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II 



ALL 



THE ODES 



OF 



PINDAR, 




TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK. 



BY THE 



REV. J" If. GIRDLESTONE, A. M. 



t 
MASTER OF THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF BECCLES, IN SUFFOLK. 



NORWICH : 



PRINTED AND SOLD BY R. M. BACON. 



^ 






TO HIS GRACE 



THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY ; 



TO 



THE REV. DR. STRACHEY ? 



ARCHDEACON OF SUFFOLK J 



THE REV. BENCE BENCE, RECTOR OF BECCLES, 

HIS HONOURED PATRONS, 

THIS TRANSLATION IS, WITH THEIR PERMISSION, 

DEDICATED, 

BY THEIR OBLIGED AND HUMBLE SERVANT, 

J. L. GIRDLESTONE. 



PREFACE. 



WHILE we have long had translations of almost all the other poets, Latin and 
Greek, there has not yet appeared, in our language, an entire translation of the 
great Theban Bard' r)y the same hand ; though many persons have made choice of 
particular odes, as if to try how far it was possible to exhibit his manner in their 
own language. Hence I have been emboldened to undertake a version of all his 
odes. Curiosity may perhaps procure readers, who may wish to form some 
notion of this prince of Lyric poets, without the trouble of studying the ori- 
ginal ; for whoever has the least acquaintance with the great Grecian, must know 
that he would attempt to read him in his own language to little purpose, unless 
he did study him, and with minute attention. 

There is such a peculiarity of style, a perpetual allusion to events little at this 
day known, a transition quick as lightning from general to particular reflections, 
from fact to fable, from living to dead heroes, from the immediate subject of 
the ode, some feat in the games, to the remoter exploits of war, from the praises 
of the hero to those of his relations, his ancestors, his country, or the gods; to 
understand all which a considerable knowledge of ancient history, places, and 
customs is necessary ; that it can hardly be expected, even a translation will be 
intelligible to one, who is not prepared to bring with him to the perusal, either 
a previous knowledge or a very close attention. It has been however my 
endeavour to smooth the way as much as possible, and if irt this very uneven 
country some difficult passes still remain, it is my hope the candid reader will 
make proper allowance. 



VI PREFACE. 

So much light has been already thrown upon the subject of these odes, the 
sacred games of Greece, by the learned West, that it would be presumption to 
attempt to add any further observations on this head. No other notes are there- 
fore to be expected than such as may tend to explain particular passages, or point 
out the secret connection, or some latent beauties. 

A general opinion seems to prevail, that Pindar, however translated, cannot 
be relished by an English reader. It is true, even to a classical reader, some ex- 
planatory notes will be necessary, unless he has studied the great original. But 
it seems a wrong notion that any sort of poetry is incapable of giving real plea- 
sure, because it may require to have some things explained, some latent beauties 
pointed out. It is the nature of the lyric ode to glance so quickly over a variety 
of objects, that unless the objects themselves be previously known, the reader 
must borrow assistance but if he will have patience and make use of proper aid, 
there will then remain no confusion. The lyric muse presents him with a 
coloured glass, through which he will behold every object beautifully varied with 
a glow of purple, bright or browner tints diffused around. In many countries 
the traveller is obliged to a judicious guide, who takes him to particular spots 
and points out beauties which might otherwise escape his eye. Hogarth has been 
esteemed a nice copier of nature, but the greatest admirer of his humor may re- 
member the time when he found assistance from written explanations. Virgil's 
prophecy, put into the mouth of his hero's father, is justly esteemed very beau- 
tiful ; yet to one not well acquainted with the particulars of the Roman history, 
some explanatory notes would be found necessary. It shows then an unwilling- 
ness to be pleased, to refuse the offered help, and call out, the poetry which 
requires such assistance is unworthy of attention. 

Every one who begins to read Pindar, is apt to find himself bewildered with 
numberless images, with examples taken from history or fable, which seem intro- 
duced at random : hence he is led lo blame the poet for want of connection and 
design. Let it then be observed, that Pindar loves to introduce the praise of a 
dead hero, apparently because he was of the same country with the hero of his 
ode, or because he signalized himself perhaps in some particular place mentioned : 



PREFACE. Vll 

but his real design is to entertain, by some description of his exploits or virtues, 
and to leave it to others to transfer the praises of the dead hero to the living. 
The kind of connection too, which prevails in his poetry, is such as may escape 
the notice of a reader not very attentive. The parts would often have no con- 
nection at all with each other, but that the poet has contrived to add so fine a 
link between each, that they hang together as by magic ; after reflecting some 
time we discover the secret art, and with admiration acknowledge that each part 
most wonderfully contributes to produce the grand effect of the whole design. 

There is another prejudice which I fear will have very great weight. Many 
of my classical readers have probably formed their notions of lyric excellence 
very much from Horace, Those, who are charmed with his elegance, sweetness 
and variety, may at first feel a disgust at many parts of Pindar, and at the differ- 
ence observable in his manner : but let us not forget that it was rather conviction 
than modesty, which made Horace acknowledge the great Theban eagle far his 
superior in sublimity, while himself he justly compared to a bee, industriously 
extracting sweets from Various flowers. Those who from childhood have been 
used to regale on his delightful beverage, if they take up Pindar, should recollect 
that Horace chose his own subjects; that of course he followed his fancy, who 
led him through the most delightful gardens of Italy, a country nearer to us than 
Greece, and with the minute events of whose history we are better acquainted. 
Pindar's subjects were assigned him by others, and were in their own nature most 
barren. Whatever therefore we admire in him, must be considered entirely his 
own creation. When a man by necessity, not choice, is fixed on a barren flat, 
if he has the miraculous art of converting it to a paradise, who can withhold 
admiration ? Yet while Horace is universally admired, the sublime Pindar re- 
mains almost intirely neglected. This cannot justly be ascribed to their difference 
of merit, for, if Horace be equal to Pindar in elegance and sweetness, Pindar is 
far superior to Horace in sublimity ; if the Roman be admired for his moral sen- 
tences, in the Grecian you constantly meet with sentences that breathe at least 
as high a strain of morality and more holy thoughts of religion. The Italian poet 
was a polite courtier, and could compliment with great ingenuity ; the Theban 
bard addressed heroes and kings at the very moment when thev were flushed with 



V11I PREFACE. 

victory and glory, but so far was he from deifying, that he disdained even t© 
flatter ; in his highest strains of compliment he loses not sight of truth, nay, he 
frequently has the courage, in plain terms, though in a manner not offensive, to 
give advice. As to artful transiiion, if the Roman muse equals the Grecian, in 
gliding with exquisite delicacy from thought to thought, the Grecian far sur- 
passes the Roman in glancing with rapidity and boldness. In elegant allusion 
both poets excel. In their epithets they are perhaps, beyond all others, admir- 
able, except Homer, who had the art to paint a landskip in a single word. 
Pindar, however, in the sublimity of these, surpasses Horace, and even Homer 
in a peculiarity of boldness. But Pindar was much studied by Horace, who, in 
many admired passages, derives his excellence from the ancient poet of Thebes. 
The great uncertainty of Pindar's meaning in numerous places, the inferiority of 
our skill in the Greek language, in comparison with our knowledge of the Latin, 
his frequent obscurity of style and quick transitions, his apparent want of con- 
nection, the barrenness of the subjects on which he wrote, and his metre not 
being so musical without its accompaniment, at least to us j these seem to be the 
chief reasons why he is comparatively neglected. The last reason alone is very 
powerful. Horace's odes were intended to be musical, without the help of the 
lyre, and we soon feel their harmony. Pindar wrote his to be accompanied by 
the lyre, on which the Grecians were taught to play, as a common and necessary 
accomplishment. The constant changes contrived by the poet leading the lyre 
through a variety of melody, made probably a sort of air, and this seems to have 
been one great beauty in Pindar's compositions ; but to us this beauty is lost. 
We cannot, in Pindar's verses, distinguish an equal harmony as in the measures 
of Homer, from the very flow of whose verse we are early taught to feel the mute 
sorrow of the father as he walks along the beach, and to hear the rolling thunder 
of the dashing waves : but whatever may be the reasons why Pindar is not more 
read, I shall not think my time and labour ill employed if this translation prove 
the means of bringing into more general notice the great Original. 



ODE 

TO THE MEMORY OF LORD NELSON. 
IN IMITATION OF PINDAR. 

MONOSTROPHIC. 

pvois Qzav ftfopiv. Isthm. 3. 

1. 

COULDST thou, my soul ! extend thy flight 

Through that unfathom'd void, where brooding Night 

With raven-wing her billowy shadows rolls 

Hov'ring o'er the realm of souls, 

Lest the bright sun's golden ray 5 

Strike them with the flash of day^ 

It may not be amiss here, for the sake of some of my readers, to observe that Pindar's Odes 

are generally divided into Strophe, Antistrophe, and Epode, and that very frequently the sense 

is continued from one division to another ; in some odes however the Epode is omitted, which 

are therefore called Monostrophic. In every ode each Strophe is an exact pattern for every 

other Strophe, and for every Antistrophe throughout the same ode, as is every Epode for every 

succeeding Epode ; the first verse in each corresponding with the first verse in every other 

throughout the ode, the second with the second, and so on. The reader may observe I have 

in this respect scrupulously followed my author, frequently however in short verses making 

one long syllable stand for a whole foot, according to the established custom of our best Poets, 

Thus Milton: 

"It was the winter wild, 
While the heav'n-born child.'* 

And Gray. Who th' avenger of his guilt ? 

By whom shall Hoder's blood be spilt ? 

This mixture gives our verse a variety and the writer a freedom. For the same reasons I have 

B 



2 

There would th' enthusiast's touch revive the fire 

Which thrilPd electric through his Dorian lyre, 

When Grecia pour'd her list'ning myriads round, 

Aw'd by the solemn sound ; 10 

Enraptured with the flame 

Bold would I sound great Nelson's name ; 

In fragrance then embalm'd should breathe the lay 

Rever'd till nature fade into eternal day. 



J3ceotia's golden-pinion'd Muse 15 

Sprinkled from heav'n her rich ambrosial dews 
O'er the victorious brave, the swift, the strong, 
And hail'd them with immortal song : 

occasionally, instead of the common Alexandrine, used a line of fouiteen syllables, though 
since the days of Chapman it has been rarely admitted. Dryden has it in his translation of 
Virgil, where it is less suitable than in Lyric Poetry. Such slight variations as these occur in 
Pindar himself, and appear not licentious when we consider that our metre has little varia- 
tion, and the oiiginal, though regular, is in variations of metre almost infinite. As for mix- 
ing occasionally what have been called Trochaic feet, I here follow the example of our best 
Poets, who probably thought such a mixture by no means a blemish. 
Thus Milton. " Stand in his presence humble." 

Pope. " Pensive she stood." 

Beattie. " When with the charm compar'd." 

Smith. " Children of sentiment." 

Gray. " Sighs to the torrent's." 

Collins. " Wise in himself." 

Goldsmith. " Soft as the dew." 

J'. 8. His Dorian.'] So Pindar sometimes calls his lyre. 

V. 13. In fragrance.] If any name can immortalize the verse which contains it, that name 
is Nelson's. 



Aloft the ever-glittering prize 

Caught the ardent champion's eyes; 20 

By strong enchantment driv'n, toil, peril, pain, 

Grim phantoms, vanish ; glory fires the plain. 

How would that Muse with never-dying lays 

Exalt our hero's praise ! 

As on th' expecting skies 25 

The sun, ere blasts with thunders rise, 

Casts a still gloom, his dreaded flag unfurFd 

Beam'd a tremendous calm around the shudd'ring world. 



What is strength, what wealth or pow'r, 

Unless assign'd by Heav'n fair Virtue's dow'r? SO 

Fame like a meteor wand'ring leads the vain 

Frantic along the bloody plain. 

Burning for Glory's splendid charms 

Tyrants distract the world with arms ; 

Fortune's perfidious coward courts her smile , 35 

And rules the world in magic chains of guile, 

The sceptre stain'd with royal gore assumes — 

Usurper ! See, his plumes 

Tremble on his proud crest 

While secret fears convulse his breast, 40 

V. 28. Beam'd.] The dreadful calm before a battle. 

V. 35. Fortune's coxsard.] Witness his behaviour at Acre, 



Lest the strange charm, that lifts his baseless throne* 
Dissolve, and from his height lie fall unpitied down. 

4. 

Shouts of triumph rise from all 

I Hong-detested, blood-stain'd ty rants fall ; 

Far, far unlike the tears that drown our eyes 45 

When our lov'd patriot-hero dies ! 

Like heavVs all-cheerino; sun he rose 

llever'd by all ; against our foes 

lie glares ; before his unapproached flame 

Gallia's proud fiow'rs of glory shrink to shame; ^0 

Ambition's hated summits baneful rise, 

As iEtna chokes the skies 

With black, sulphureous cloud, 

While melting fragments thund'ring loud 

Storm down impetuous, blazing torrents pour, 55 

And vineyards, woods and flocks and smiling towns devour. 

He only, whose all-powerful hands 

Scoop'd those drear chasms (o'er which suspended stands 

HeavVs vault and shudders lest in gulfs of flame 

Sink ccnsum'd his crumbling frame) 60 

V. 51. Ambition's.] Nelson's patriotism withers our foes, cheers ourselves ; the ambition 
of France is destructive ; as against the rage of ^Etna Providence has opposed the sea, so has 
he shielded Britain likewise by the sea against invasion. 



He only curbs their rage ; around 

He swell'd the sea, whose waves profound 

Arrest the rolling fires ; with horrid flash 

Quench'd in the roaring surge those cataracts dash 

And sink ; day low'rs, midnight in horror burns, 65 

Earth, air to chaos turns. 

'Twas He around thy shore, 

Britannia, bade deep ocean roar ; 

With joy great Alfred's far-foreseeing soul 

Beheld this ample shield of mighty waters roll. 70 

6. 
Arm'd fleets he calls around his isle 
And pious kneels ; heav'n hears with fav'ring smile 
The father of his country pour his vows : 
Britannia shouts ! heav'n-taught she knows 

Her day, when aw'd the waves shall own 75 

For ever fix'd her glorious crown ; 
Then shall she trust to one long-destin'd hand 
Fate's glitt'ring sword, avenger of her land. 
When impious threats burst o'er the brazen skies 

Heav'n bade that Nelson rise, 80 

Bade him th' historic page 
Trace back to Britain's earliest age, 

V. 81. Bade him.] Nelson was always very fond of biography. 



6 

Among the souls of all th' immortal dead 

Mark one and in his steps the heights of glory tread. 



Lo ! where the rev 9 rend oak uprears 83 

His stately growth of many an hundred years ! 

How many springs their fost'ring dews have shed ! 

How many winters bared his head ! 

What storms, what thunders with dread roar 

Have burst his shatter'd branches o'er, 90 

Ere in full grandeur to th' admiring eyes 

Of all the land his mighty stature rise ! 

So midst long toils and cares and perils rose 

This terror of our foes. 

'Twas not a summer's day 95 

Such worth, such wisdom could display ; 

Feats of dead heroes and their martial art 

By long thought fired his soul, long trial prov'd his heart; 

8. 
Oft, when night's ebon gloom was spread 

O'er earth, he call'd the spirits of the dead ; 100 

Before his torch to his admiring eyes 
Ideal camps, waves, warriors rise ; 

V. 90. Have burst.'] Nelson had been present in an hundred and twenty battles before he 
arrived at his great honours. 



Intent his rival soul surveys 

The glorious virtue each displays : 

Triumphant Henry waves his sceptred hand 105 

And points to heav'n ; Sidney a willing band 

Of heroes draws with love's magnetic force ; 

Wolfe takes a sun-like course 

That sets full soon in blood. 

While Benbow on the trembling flood 1 10 

Strikes Death and Valour dumb with strange delight ; 

But Nelson's soul still pants to soar a nobler height. 

9. 

At length her son Britannia own'd ; 

His rev'rend, hoary sire from sleep profound 

She call'd : bright flames flash from her sworded hand i 115 

6i This weapon — grasp it — guards my land." 

He wakes, he drops a father's tear, 

And with a patriot's zealous care 

Hallows the sword ; the altar hears his vows ; 

Bright hopes and triumphs beam upon his brows ; 120 

" To thee, my Son, Britannia's sword isgiv'n," 

" A sacred trust from heav'n," 



V. 105. Triumphant.'] Like Henry the Fifth Nelson was ever desirous of impressing a 
sense of religion on the minds of all his followers ; like Sidney he was universally beloved ; 
he had the patriotism of Wolfe, the courage of Benbow, the wisdom of Alfred. 



" Shake tyrants on their throne," 

" But kneel, still kneel to Heav'n alone:" 

" Be Heav'n thy first, thou Heav'n's perpetual care !" 125 

The glowing warrior joins his pious father's pray'r : 

10 

" Alfred, to raise our fleets was thine ;" 

" To save, grant Heav'n ! the greater glory mine!" 

" My country's victim, proud I drain my blood," 

" Crown her but Empress of the flood !" ISO 

He pray'd and as he snatch'd renown 

Dar'd his much-lov'd country's frown i 

Must'ring her thunders war s grim Fury stood 

And roll'd her storm slow-wheeling o'er the flood ; 

He darts, an eagle, wrenching from her hands 135 

Fate's thousand blazing brands 

And rushing on in fire, 

Hurls on each side ; all eyes admire, 

V. 127. Dar'd.'] Nelson was ever ready to hazard every thing to serve his country. On 
more occasions than one he dared disobey orders. He considered not what orders his superiors 
had given, but what he knew they would have given if placed where himself was. But the 
allusion here is to the battle off Cape St. Vincent. In this after some of the enemy's ships 
had been cut off from their main fleet, Nelson, contrary to the signal, boldly made a sudden 
and unexpected attack, which compleated the grand object of Jervis, by forcing the enemy 
to give up all hope of rejoining those ships and to come to immediate action. Nelson was 
thus exposed to the fire of three large Spanish ships at once, but his invincible courage made 
him sustain this very unequal contest till he was supported by others, who followed his 
example; after which he took ship after ship with the rapidity of an eagle. 



9 

All follow where his dire tornado flies, 

And loud triumphal shouts of VICTORY rend the skies, 140 

11. 

As when some dastard, with lone hand 

Seizing a lion's whelp, along the land 

Flees breathless, through the midnight's gloom his fear 

Sees the pursuing eye-balls glare ; 

With hasty sail thus fled our foes, l&§ 

Behind long-couching Vengeance rose 

Tremendous ; watchful heav'n secur'd the prey, 

Pointing the long, the doubtful, trackless way. 

Not more confounded trembling Egypt stood 

To see the parted flood 130 

O'er Pharaoh's armies close, 

Than thund'ring when the dread storm rose 

"Which rob'd her seas in fire : with sudden shock 

How did her distant tow'rs as with an earthquake rock 

12. 
When dire explosion rent the air! 4-55 

Astounded Battle paus'd : large fragments glare 
Whirl'd o'er Night's redd'ning arch ; one moment stood 
Silence on the flick'ring flood, 

V. 145. With hasty sail.'] In Nelson's pursuit of the French fleet over the Mediterranean 
what he at first conceived a misfortune may be considered as providential j for had he over- 
taken it, some of the ships might probably have escaped. 

c 



10 

Aw'd as if Nature through the gloom 

Of midnight blaz'd into her tomb. — ■ 160 

Who but some guardian angel of our land 

Blinded the foe and seal'd with steady hand 

The bond of Fate ? — On that last day he wore 

Honours soon drench'd in gore. 

When smiling in his pains 165 

He heard the shout from Gallia's chains 

Drown'd in our louder peals ; grey Ocean down 

Drops at Britannia's feet, who weeps, his long* contested crown. 

V. 161. Who but.'] Whether humanity or policy, or both, urged Nelson to send the pro- 
posals to Copenhagen, which were at least as advantageous to us as to them, it must every 
way redound to his honour. When some one offered him a wafer to seal the letter ; " No," 
says our hero, " let us not seem to act in a hurry." He therefore deliberately sealed it 
with wax. 

V. 163. On that last day."\ What day that was England will ever remember. At Nelson's 
removal from the deck when he was wounded, the Frenchmen in the opposing ship gave a 
shout, though their fleet was on the point of falling into our hands. 



OLYMPIC ODE I. 

IN PRAISE OF HIERO, KING OF SYRACUSE, VICTOR AT OLYMPIA, 
IN THE RACE OF SINGLE HORSES. 

[SEE INDEX ON OLYMPIA.] 

s. 1.* 

BEST of all Nature water flows; 

Nought amid treasures richer glows 

Than gold, which gleams like fire; whose light 

Shoots through the besom of the night ; 

Proud gold, that swells man's heart. My soul ! I 

Seek not another star to roll 

* S. A. E. the initial letters of Strophe, Antistrophe, and Epode, are used, because the 
words might seem to interrupt the sense, where it is continued from the one to the other. 

V. 1.] Best of all nature.] Because from water all the other elements were thought to 
proceed. It has been said that Pindar never can be translated. The first word, in his first 
ode, shows one reason upon which this opinion is founded. The words literally translated 
must, to a modern reader, appear very prosaic, " Best is water," seems a very singular be- 
ginning to a spirited ode. Those however, for whom it was originally composed, did Eot 
want to be reminded that this was an observation of philosophy. What then is a translator 
to do ? If he render the exact words of his author, one class of readers will throw down the 
book in disgust ; if he alter the expression too freely, he may incur the disapprobation of the 
learned. In such difficulties, whic' rery frequently occur in this writer, I generally choose 
rather to encounter the displeasure of those from whom I may naturally expect the greatest 
candour. At once then, reader, understand what is my chief aim throughout this translation. 
I have not the presumption to offer instruction to the learned, but I wish to excite those, who 
admire inferior classical authors, to bestow more of their attention upon this great original. 
My endeavour has been to exhibit something of Pindar's manner. More labour has been em- 



12 

Along the desert air with livelier fires, 

When the sun warms the brightening day; 

Or, should'st thou try the tuneful lay 

Heroes' illustrious feats to praise, 10 

Can wreath-bound Victory nobler raise 

To Fame the loud, triumphal strain 

Than from Olympia's sacred plain ? 

Rise then, ye Bards, whose souls the Muse inspires, 

Through all his courts the happy Hiero sing 15 

Victorious ! strike your harps to Jove, Olympia's king ! 

a. 1. 
O'er Sicilia's sheep-clad plains 
With righteous sceptre Hiero reigns 

ployed in elucidating his sentiments, his train of thought and various comparisons, than to 
preserve the exact enumeration of victories or every nicety in history, geography, or chrono- 
logy. It has been also conceived, that in many passages some liberty of retrenchment or ad- 
dition, or of a slight change in the figure or mode of expression, might tend to give the modern 
reader a clearer idea of Pindar's general spirit, than an over-scrupulous, and at last, vain en- 
deavour to exhibit each of his particular expressions more minutely. 

V. 7. Along the desert air.] No poet was once more admired than Pindar. Few have been 
more imitated. 



at whose sight all the stars 



Hide their diminish'd heads." Milton. 

■' Pants through the pathless desert of the air." Mason. 

" Like one that had been led astray, 

Thro' the heav'n's wide pathless way." Milton. 
V. 16. Olympia's king.] Jupiter presided over the Olympic games ; in his honour there- 
fore the odes were sung. " All things begin with Jove," was not only upon this occasion 
but all others, the language of the heathens. In a similar manner begins the greatest of their 
orators, in his most celebrated oration, in which his own interest was most materially con- 
cerned. £!ush not, Christian! 



13 

And ev'ry choicest blossom crops 

From all the blooming virtues' tops ; 20 

The fav'ring Muse for ever bright 

Around him throws a purple light 

While o'er his social board she shakes her flow'rs : 

Alternate, as we sit around, 

Her festal hymns for ever sound. 25 

Give, give the Lyre — warm o'er my soul 

The swelling thoughts begin to roll ! 

This hand shall wake a Dorian strain 

Striking aloud to Pisa's plain, 

And Pherenicus, fleetest steed, that scours 30 

Near silver Alpheus o'er the shouting ground, 

The whip he scorns, in wreaths his Lord's glad brows he bound. 

e. 1. 
With joy the Syracusian monarch glows 
Exulting in his haughty steed ; 
Glory crown'd his matchless speed ; 

Beaming from Hiero's brows 35 

She brightens all the land,, of yore 
Where his fam'd sceptre Pelops bore 

V. 19. And ev'ry.'] The elegance of West's translation of this passage it is vain to hope 
any other can equal. 

" Plucks every blooming virtue's fairest flow'r." 
V. 29. For Pisa and other names see Index. 
V. 30. Pherenicus, the name of the victorious steed. 



14 

With his brave Lydian colony retir'd : 

Him Neptune saw, the god admir'd, 40 

When Clotho's pow'r his severed limbs replac'd, 

From glitt'ring cauldron ris'n, with ivory shoulder grac'd. 

Thus wondrous fictions blind, 

By fancy drest, the human mind ; 

Unseen plain truth and disregarded lies ; 45 

Pictures with varnish'd gloss enchant our dazzled eyes. 

s. 2. 
Sweet the pow'r, whose soft controul 
Gently leads the willing soul 
Transported in delightful dream 

Till falsehood and dishonour seem, 50 

Their nature chang'd, like truth to shine 
Unsullied, glorious and divine ; 
All fades at length before the full-ris'n day. 
Mortal beware ! a sacred law 

Commands to speak of heav'n with awe, 55 

Nor rash thine ear to aught incline 
Degrading to the pow'rs divine. 
Pelops, these fables all are vain ; 

V. 39. With his.] For he came from Lydia. 

V. 41. When C/otho^ She was one of the Fates. The common story, which Pindar 
rejects, was, - that he was served up at table and his shoulder eaten : the Gods restored him 
to life, and Cloth© gave him an ivory shoulder." 



15 

My Muse shall wake truth's genuine strain 

And drive dark error's impious mists away, 60 

The father's feast in turn the Immortals grace 

At Sipylus ; the God, who holds the splendid mace, 

A. 2. 
His bosom warm'd with sudden fire, 
Up to heav'n's all-honour'd Sire, 

Bearing the beauteous Pelops, speeds 65 ■ 

High o'er the clouds his golden steeds : 
(To the same favour'd post once came 
Fair Ganymede of equal fame, ) 
Now lost to mortal eyes, in rapid flight 

Transported o'er th' etherial deep, 70 

His friends he leaves, who search and weep, 
Unheard their cries far, far below : 
At length the bitter tale of woe, 
Returning back, a sorrowing train, 

They bring his weeping mother; " vain 75 

All search ! He never more shall bless her sight!" 

V. 61. The father's.] Pindar allows thus much of the story to be true, that Tantalus, the 
father of Pelops, having been before feasted by the gods, in turn invited them at Sipylus, in 
Lydia. But the unnatural story of killing his son and boiling his limbs for the feast, he 
rejects. 

V. 62. The God.] Neptune. 

V. 68. Fair Ganymede.] I conceive Pindar had a very particular reason for this mention of 
Ganymede, who, for his beauty, was taken into heaven. See note on y. 160. 



16 

Hence, from tbe cauldron that his limbs were brought 
To feast the blessed gods, the envious tale was wrought. 

e. 2. 

But ne'er with lips unhallow'd may I call 

HeavVs sons intemperate ! With just dread 80 

I shudder, lest upon my head 

Their righteous vengeance fall. 

If ever man with fav'ring love 

Was notic'd by the pow'rs above, 

That man was Tantalus. Ah weak and vain ! 85 

The honours of heav'n's golden plain, 

The bliss divine, unable to digest, 

With arrogance and pride the mortal swells his breast. 

His awful brow Jove bends 

In wrath and o'er his head suspends 90 

Tremendous mass of ever-threat'ning rock ; 

He, shrinking still, still shudders from the whelming shock. 

s. 3. 
He lives in torture unreliev'd, 
For ever groaning, ever griev'd, 

The fourth of that unhappy train Q5 

Who wail in everlasting pain : 

V. 95. The fourth.] Ixion, Sisyphus, Tityus, and himself, are the four. 



17 

The cup, whose sweets immortalize 

His humbler nature, from the skies 

He stole, which none but heav'nly banquets know, 

And lo! on mortal friends bestow'd, iOO 

Bold, impious man ! immortal food. 

Who daring would deceive the eyes 

Of those blest pow'rs which rule the skies, 

That rash soul errs. The Sire's offence 

Brought on the son sad recompence, 105 

To dwell once more with short-liv'd men below. 

Pelops in youth's fall bloom to earth return'd, 

And for the bride proclaim'd his pensive wishes burn'd. 

a. 3. 

To Pisa's mighty king he came : 

His daughter of illustrious fame, 1 10 



V. 108. And for.'] Take away the comma after yA^ov, and it will be ZTOipov rntpa 
*&r&Tpos, nuptias a patre paratas, i. e. certis legibus durisque. Pindar mentions two other 
instances where the father prepared or proclaimed his daughter's nuptials on certain condi- 
tions. See Pyth. 9. 

V. 109. To Pisa's king."] CEnomaus, King of Pisa, having been informed by an oracle that 
he would be slain by his son in law ; when the beauty of his daughter Hippodameia attracted 
many admirers, proposed a chariot-race to each young man on these conditions, that if him- 
self were conquered he would give him his daughter ; but, if he proved victorious, the lorer 
must submit to be transfixed with his spear. Thirteen, so swift were the king's horses, had 
already lost their lives, when Pelops conceived a hope that, by divine assistance, he might 
obtain the prize. Observe here, as in a thousand instances beside, how Pindar delights to 
ascribe all events to some god. 

D 



18 

tlippodameia, charm'd his eyes ; 

But, ere he ventured for the prize, 

In solemn midnight's gloom alone 

To the hoary ocean down 

He steps and to the deep-voic'd god he calls ; 115 

Instant before his feet appears 

The gracious Pow'r and willing hears ; 

66 If lovely Venus e'er can move," 

" Neptune, thy heart to favour love," 

" From fierce CEnomaus' hand the spear" 120 

M Dash, whose hideous, brazen glare" 

" The trembling lover's panting breast appalls ;" 

" Wing my fleet coursers o'er th' Olympian plain," 

" Crown victory with love, nor leave me with the slain !" 

e. 3. 
" Heroes alone deserve the lovely prize," 125 

" Trembling dastards never dare" 
u The trial ; vain is mortal's fear," 
" By nature's doom he dies." 
" What then ! inglorious shall I lie" 
" Stranger to all that 's great or high" 130 



Vm 127 and 128. The same thought occurs in our poet's tragedy of Julius Caesar. 
"It seems to me most strange that men should fear, 
Seeing that death, a necessary end, 
Will come when it will come." 



19 

" Nursing base life in darkness with weak fears" 

" To despicable length of years ? 

" No never will I skulk without a name" 

" Despis'd ; the attempt I dare; O grant me endless fame!" 

He pray'd and Neptune hears 1 35 

And to his ravish'd eyes prepares 

Glitt'ring a car of gold and steeds that fly 

Unwearied on the wing of glorious victory. 

s. 4. 
The king o'ercome, the long-sought hand 

He seizes and in sweetest band 140 

Fondly unites th' illustrious maid. 
Six noble sons his toil repaid 
All leaders to their people dear, 
For they were nurs'd by Virtue's care. 

But, when in glory his last day declines, 145 

Splendid victims fall beside 
Alpheus* silver-rolling tide 
Sprinkling the tomb where rests his head. 
And oft revering strangers shed 

Tears to his memory, thronging round 150 

The altar on Jove's hallow'd ground. 



V. 151. Jkealiar.'] Jove's altar was very near; where afterwards those, who attended 
the games* used to offer sacrifices. 



20 

There o'er th' Olympian course bright glory shines, 
To swiftness, courage, strength her crown she gives ; 
Thence in ambrosial calm the honour'd Victor lives. 

a. 4. 
From Fame the purest fountains flow 155 

The sweetest good that mortals know ; 
Day after day all-clear they glide 
Unfailing to life's latest tide. 
Then wake, my lyre, thy sweetest sound 
To Hiero, hail him justly crown'd 160 

V. 159. My lyre.'] In the original it is ^Eolian lyre. The ./Eolians once inhabited 
Thebes, therefore the lyre is called vEolian. 

V. 160. To Hiero. J The praise of particular persons, unless their characters be singularly 
great or good, is in itself a very barren subject. In all these hymns there is a great mixture 
of religion, as they were sung at the festivals of their gods. The exploits of former heroes 
were also with propriety introduced. But to adapt the examples of ancient heroes to the im- 
mediate subject of the ode, without stating the reasons, seems to have been the great effort of 
Pindar's art, and what has been least explained. At this time we can do little more than con- 
jecture. In some instances I have thus ventured to assign reasons. Thus in the present 
ode, we are told that Pelops gained first a victory by his horses, and afterwards great fame in 
that country, which from him took the name of Peloponnesus. This was the same in which 
the Olympic games were celebrated, which, as some supposed, took their origin from Pelops. 
Hiero, in this ode, was to be celebrated for a victory gained by his horse at the same place. 
I find no other reason, as far as I recollect, assigned by any commentator for the introduction 
of the story of Pelops. But what says the poet of this ancient king ? That the common 
story was a mere fiction ; whereas the real fact was, that Pelops was carried into heaven, as 
Ganymede had been before, who was well known to have been raised to heaven for his sin- 
gular beauty. Now the historian Justin tells us of Hiero, that he was admired most highly 
for the beauty of his person. " Pulchritudo ci corporis insignis." Lib. 23. ch. 4. Could 
then Horace himself find a more ingenious way of complimenting ? That Neptune was the 
god who so much favoured Pelops, seems a circumstance which may further confirm this 



21 

The Lord unrival'd of the fleetest steed. 

Ne'er shall the Muse's lovely hand 

For living mortal twine a band 

Brighter nor livelier see it glow 

On any friend's illustrious brow, * *>5 

O skilPd at once in noble arts 

And deck'd with pow'r ! Some god imparts 

A special guardian providence to speed 

Thy noble cares ; and never may it fail 

That I with sweeter voice again may bid thee hail ! 170 

e. 4. 
If bright-wing'd Glory on thy chariot lights 
My Muse high o'er Olympia's plain 
Shall pour the loud triumphal strain 
Round Cronion's sacred heights, 

Glitt'ring in sun-shine o'er the skies. 175 

Nurs'd by the Muse beside me lies 
A shaft of strongest pinion. Monarchs claim 
The choicest dart her bow can aim. 

conjecture, as thus Pindar may intend to image Hiero's greatness by sea. Without doubt 
Pindar had always good reasons for his digressions, which to us lose their beauty only when 
we can not trace the circumstances which occasioned them. 

V» 170. That I.J Hiero perhaps was preparing for another contest at Olympia. 

V. 174. See Index. 

V. 177. A shaft.'] Pindar, with great boldness and sublimity, frequently terms his verses 
shafts of harmony. The Psalmist, with equal sublimity, but much greater propriety, calls 
the words of an enemy " poisoned arrows." 



22 

Men rise in dignity o'er men ; the crown 

Looks on inferior heads majestically down, 180 

No loftier source of praise 

I seek to dignify my lays ; 

The same exalted path long may'st thou tread 

And I midst bards of Greece raise my distinguish'd head ! 



OLYMPIC ODE II. 

IN PRAISE OF THERON, KING OF AGRIGENTUM, VICTOR IN THE 

CHARIOT-RACE. 

s. I. 

jL E Hymns, who breathe imperial o'er the lyre, 
What man, what hero shall we name 
An heir of everlasting fame? 

What god, celestial Muse, shall claim thy sacred fire r 
The god, whose guardian love 5 

His Pisa shields, immortal Jove, 

General design of the Ode. As Theron's forefathers had met with misfortunes, Pindar 
takes occasion to speak of the vicissitudes of fortune, mentioning several instances in his hero's 
family in former ages. But now he is settled in wealth and splendor, the poet reminds him 
that to those who use their wealth properly, it shines as a star leading to glory, which will 
continue even after death, whereas those who misuse it, will be punished. 

V. 1. Ye Hymns.'] At the beginning of this ode a difficulty occurs of a very different nature 
from that mentioned in the note on the first Olympic v. 1st. — The poet here addresses his 
lyre with a compounded word so singularly beautiful, that no translator can hope to express 
it. lie in one word calls the hymns queens of the lyre, with no less propriety than elegance, 
since as they vary the metre the lyre still obeys, following these queens of harmony through 
all their changes. 

V. 5. The god whose.] Next to Benedictus I acknowledge my obligations to Heyne for 
his accurate explanation of very many passages. I do not always mention their names but 
would have the reader assign to one or other of them almost every explanatory note which he 
may approve. Heyne is remarkable for throwing the clearest light on the subject in a few 
words. On this passage he says " Jupiter, the greatest of gods, who presided over the games, 
claims the poet's first notice ; Hercules, the greatest of heroes, who appointed these games, 



24 

And Hercules, who from the spoils of war 

Proclaim'd th' Olympic prize : 

Sweet Hymns, to Theron rise ! 

To Theron, while bright Victory crowns his car, 10 

Harmonious swell the sound ! 

His country's tow'r ! the friend renown'd ! 

Flow'r of illustrious stem ! whose righteous sway 

The sons of Agragas with grateful hearts obey. 

A. 1. 

His toil-worn Sires (clouds o'er their dawning day 15 

Long dark'ning scowl'd) at length retreat, 

Where Peace secur'd a sacred seat, 

To, Agragas, thy banks, and shine with brighter ray 

the second ; the poet in the third place mentions Theron, who conquered in these games ; 
thus insinuating that among men none was so great as Theron." This passage Horace imitates 
thus : Quern virum aut heroa lyra vel acri, 

Tibia sumes celebrare Clio ? 

Quern deum, cujus recinet jocosa 

Montis imago. 

The different order I conceive Horace thought of no consequence, which is a shield to 
my translation. From this imitation we may see the different tastes of the two poets. 
Pindar always loves what is grave and great. Horace does not frequently continue his sublime 
flights 6o long together, he is ever ready to stoop for something like this " jocosa imago." 
The classical reader will recollect various passages in Horace imitated or even translated from 
Pindar, for which I do not remember that he was ever despised as a school-boy.* To set 
down all such passages would be tedious and impertinent. 

T. 15. Hit toi/-;vorn.~] His ancestors had been driven by civil wars from Rhodes to 
Agragas or Agrigentum, a town near the river Agragas. 

* See Life of Gray, by Johnson. 



25 

The light of all the land. 

Fate leads them in his guardian hand SO 

With riches, honour, happiness in store, 

And on their virtues down 

Drops an illustrious crown. 

Thou, son of Rhea, great Olympian pow'r, 

High-thron'd above the skies, 25 

O'er Alpheus stooping view the prize 

Of glory, pleas'd the hymn triumphal hear, 

Make them, their land, their race thine everlasting care! 

9 e. 1. 

Nought can the action past recall ; 

Just or unjust the deed once done, 30 

Not Time, the first great Sire of all, 

Can e'er undo, 'tis past, 'tis gone. 

But when good days return, soft-flowing o'er 

Oblivion's dark'ning, slumbrous tide shall swell, 

In joy absorb past ills, and never more 35 

Shall hateful sorrows on the memory dwell, 

s. 2, 
When Gods more bounteous from their heav'nly store 
Send happier blessings largely down, 

V. 24. Thou, son of.] Jupiter. 

V. 36. Shall hateful sorrows,] In allusion to the civil dissentions now no more, 

E 



26 

Thus varying Fortune's gloomy frown, 

Cadmus, thy daughters felt, but lo! her storms are o'er, 40 

From clouds the lurid skies 

Clearing as brighter glories rise : 

Thy Semele, who midst the fires of Jove 

And thunder's awful sound 

Fell lifeless to the ground, 45 

Trails her long tresses in the courts above : 

There midst th' eternal powers 

'Tis her's to pass her golden hours, 

To ivy-crowned Bacchus ever dear, 

Pallas, thy constant love, and thine, great Jove, to share. 50 

a. 2. 
Below the azure bosom of the main, 
There ; where the snowy Nereids dwell 
In sea-bright grots o'er-hung with shell, 
Glad Ino mixes now with all th' immortal train, 

Immortal as the rest. 55 

Ah ! never knows the human breast 
Whether in gloom Death springs with horrid stride. 
Or whether bright'ning skies 
Shall see the day arise 
To guide us where sweet calm and peace reside, 60 

V. 40. Cadmus, %.] Theron was descended from Cadmus. The poet judiciously takes his 
instances from the same family ; Semele and Ino were daughters of Cadmus. See the Index. 



27 

Till evening gently close 

Our eye-lids in their last repose. 

The restless tide of life now ebbs, now flows, 

Now swells to highest bliss, now whelms in deepest woes, 

e. 2. 
Theron, thy sires from happier state 65 

Soon fell ; Heav'n rais'd and Heav'n opprest ; 
Such storms of ever- varying fate 
Burst o'er the destined murderer's breast : 
Led by mysterious pow'r the king he meets ; 

Wretch ! By thy hand thy father's blood is shed 1 70 

Ah ! hapless blind ! that blood-stain'd hand compleats 
Fate's dire decree anno unc'd in answer dread. 

s. 3. 
The sharp-ey'd Fury saw the horrid deed, 
And soon along the reeking ground 

The martial race lie slain around; *5 

Arm'd by her ranc'rous gall brothers by brothers bleed. 
His warlike father lost 
Thersander cheerslhe drooping host, 

V. 68. Burst o'er the destined.] This was CEdipus, Theron's forefather. It had been fore- 
told CEdipus should kill his father. He was therefore exposed an infant. Grown to man= 
hood he met Laius his father, without knowing him. Neither would turn out of the road j 
hence a quarrel, in which the father fell. 

V. 75. Ariridby her.] The sons of CEdipus, Eteocles and Polynices, in a contest for the 
throne fell by each other's hands. Thersander therefore, the son of Polynices/ remained 
alone as the root of Theron's family. 



28 

In vig'rous feats of youthful contest fram'd, 

Renown'd in deeds of war : 80 

Adrastus' stem from far 

Revives in him, once more with honour nam'd. 

Lo ! there the ancient root 

From which illustrious branches shoot, 

CEnesidemus and his mighty son, 85 

Who claims my lyric strain to sing the prize he won. 

a. 3. 
Loud peals of triumph shake Olympiad plain, 
Corinth and Pytho swell his fame 
And shout at once his brother's name, 

Equal in glory there the now'ring wreath they gain, 90 

Where twelve times round the goal 
Their steeds the glowing chariot roll. 
Adventurous heroes, when the heights they dare 
Of toil triumphant tread, 

V. 89. And shout at.~\ Xenocrates was his brother, who is celebrated as having been vic- 
torious, as well as himself, in the Isthmian and Pythian games, in a chariot-race. They used 
to drive the car twelve times round a goal set up at the farthest part of the course. It will 
be found Pindar's constant custom to take occasion from the victory of the ode, to celebrate all 
other victories gained by the hero or his relations, and to add the praises of his ancestors, his 
relations, or country, or even the tribe to which he belonged. 

V. 93. Adve/itrous heroes.] A chariot-race being attended with great expence, Pindar often 
commends his heroes for spending their wealth so gloriously. If I mistake not > the poet in- 
tends an opposition between the man who uses, and the man who hoards riches. The man 
who is disposed to make a good use of his gord wants not the threat of judgment, but he who 
keeps it locked up. Therefore I translate " S%<H," " hoards," or " holds," or li keeps," 
or " guards." Pindar expressly says, " but he," but if," &c. " 5/ oV I would always 



c 29 

Forth-blazing o'er their head 95 

Feel livelier fire dissolve each sordid care. 

"When to the generous mind, 

By virtue polish'd and refin'd, 

Wealth deigns her golden treasure to impart, 

And to high thoughts and feats warms and expands the hearty 100 

e. 3. 
Bright as a sparkling star she glows, 
O'er glory's path she shoots her light ; 
But he, who hoards his treasure, knows 
What must succeed this transient night ; 

Full strict account of ev'ry talent giv'n ; 105 

The trembling culprits forc'd confess their lives ; 
Each crime perform'd here in the eye of heav'n$ 
Before the stern Tartarean judge revives. 

s. 4. 
But o'er the just the sun's unfading rays 
By night, by day for ever glow, 110 

translate this particle " but," unless there be a strong reason to the contrary. Hesiod seems 
to use the word " €%«" in this sense of guarding. " XP UITeiAt ^ s V-W il X 0V zttto, 
wv^etl, 3 * Pindar himself, Nem. 1. v. 45, and Pyth. 4, 436. st ttKktov z^eiv," and Homer 
in a sense not very dissimilar, II. 1, 113, and 356. " HctVTct katzt^atttai KAl ZX 6 **'* 
Demosthenes. He uses the word in the same sense in other places. 

V. 110. By night, by day."} See Rev* ch. 21. v. 4. Pindar writes like the pen of inspira- 
tion. I do not recollect in any other poet so short, so clear, so pleasing an account of the 
future state of deceased souls in bliss j for of the others, Pindar, according to his constant 



30 

Nor peril more nor toil they know 

By land or on the deep ; soft flow their easy days. 

Then ever-blest the good 

No longer toil for scanty food 

With many a groan upturning th' heavy ground ; 1.15 

But midst the immortal pow'rs 

Soft glide their vernal hours, 

(For holy truth with them due rev'rence found) 

Nor tear nor sorrow knows 

Their ever-honour'd, calm repose ; 12G 

Far, far remote the tortures, which assail 

The impious ; shudd'ring sight shrinks from the woes they wail. 

a. 4. 
Thrice in the realms below and thrice above 
If free from each polluting deed 

Still innocent their lives they lead, 125 

Their blessed steps ascend the golden paths of Jove. 
There lie the happy isles 
Enrobed with everlasting smiles, 
And there the great Saturnian tow'rs invite. 

custom of avoiding gloomy reflections and descriptions, gives a short account. I would ask 
the Deist whence he had these very noble thoughts, and why Virgil afterwards should not 
improve upon the more ancient poet. If this knowledge be derived from human reason, the 
longer that reason is exercised, the more complete should be the knowledge. But the Latin 
poets and philosophers do not, till the days of Christianity, shine above the ancient writers 
of Greece. 



31 

Sea-breezes ever blow, 130 

Sweet flowers for ever throw 

Soft gleams of gold upon th' enchanted sight, 

Some from the fragrant ground, 

Some from the beauteous trees around, 

Some from the billowy waters gently breathe 135 

Their sweets and tempt the hand to form the blushing wreath. 

e. 4. 
Just Rhadamanthus hears the cause 
And gives th' irrevocable word 
Sanction'd by ever-righteous laws. 

Him his assessor Rhea's lord 140 

Age-honour'd Saturn chose : (She sits above 
High-thron'd o'er all) Peleus and Cadmus there 
And great Achilles dwell ; such honour Jove 
Grants her brave warrior mov'd by Thetis' pray'r. 

s. 5. 
His spear Aurora's son and Cycnus slew ; 145 

'Gainst Hector, mightiest of the foes, 
All-horrible in rage he rose 
And Troy's long- vaunted, last, unconquer'd prop o'er threw. 

V. 148. And Troy's.] Why does the poet stop with Achilles ? This was their great 
hero. Having mentioned many honourable personages, whose names were to be sung with 
his hero's, at the mention of Achilles, he can go no further ; no hero after him is worthy to 
be mentioned except Theron, to whom, the poet immediately adds, his dart is directed ; 



32 

Beside me glitt'ring bright 

Fall many a shaft of swiftest flight 150 

Eager to spring within my quiver lies ; 

Dull is the vulgar ear 

The lofty notes to hear, 

Their harmony sounds only to the wise. 

'Tis Nature's hand divine 155 

Gives Genius on the soul to shine, 

i. e. to whom he would have us apply what he had been saying of the rewards of the good. 
Pindar has a fragment yet remaining, wherein he describes the fields of the blest as follows: 
** There round the blest in pow'rful light 
• The sun for ever shining cheers their night, 

Sweet meadows smile their lovely mansions round ; 
One blush of roses covers all the ground. 
Arching the fragrant trees their shadowy boughs 
Wave high ; the golden fruit in glitt'ring clusters glows ; 
Games, or the lyre, delight their souls, or steeds 
Bear them in social troops along the meeds. 
Joys in full flow'r around them blow ; 
Breathing altars o'er them throw 
Their lovely perfumes thro' the air ; the skies 
Smile o'er the far-seen flame, whence the rich clouds arise." 
Perhaps our most enchanting poet had Pindar in view when he wrote the 50th and 51st 
stanzas of Canto 12. b. 2. of his Fairy Queen; and again when he gives us the description 
following : 

"It was a chosen plot of fertile land); 
Emongst wide waves set like a little nest ; 

No dainty flowre or herb that grows on ground, 
No arboret with painted blossoms drest — 

i No tree, whose branches did not bravely spring ; 

No branch, whereon a fine bird did not sit," Sec. &c. 

See Fairy Queen, b. 2. c. 6. st. 12 and IS. 



33 

Cold sons of art the tyrant-bird of air 

Like daws loud^chatt'ring view, but high beyond their sphere 

A. 5. 
His pinions bear him to the throne of Jove. 

Who now, sweet lyre, thy voice shall claim ? 160 

Thy shafts, my soul, where wilt thou aim, 
The shafts of glory warm from heart of friendly love ? 
My sounding bow I bend : 
To Agragas, to greet my friend 

With full force darts the arrow from my hands. 165 

Stand, holy Truth, and hear 
The solemn oath I swear ; 
" Trace all the ancient heroes of all lands 
Back through an hundred years, 

None eminent in worth appears 170 

Like Theron : warm his generous heart o'erflows 
With social love ; his hand the richest gifts bestows." 

e. 5. 

Yet Insolence unjustly rose 

Clamouring with sland'rous words impure 

To stain his name ! Malignant foes 175 

His goodness madly would obscure ! 



7. 173. Yet insolence.'} It seems not clearly known to what the poet alludes. But see 



West 

F 



34 

By pow'r of numbers can the tongue express 
The sands or pebbles heap'd along the shore ? 
Or count the thousands whom his treasures bless 
Pour'd from his bounty's inexhausted store ? 



OLYMPIC ODE III. 

TO THE SAME THERON, VICTOR IN THE CHARIOT RACE. 

S. 1. 

X O Leda's hospitable twins. 

Guardians of man, my song begins : 

To soft-hair'd Helen raise 

Thy voice, my Muse, sing Agrigentum's praise ! 

Bid the strains of triumph flow, 5 

Twine the wreath for Theron's brow ! 

His choicest coursers sing 

Darting on Victory's never- wearied wing ! 

Admiring Silence, for new strains prepare ! 

Muse, lead the graceful choir and tune a Dorian air ! JO 



Castor, Pollux, and Helen, were particularly adored at Agrigentum ; the poet therefore 
addresses these as tutelary divinities. We find also that Castor and Pollux were among the 
presidents of these games. See ant. 3. v. 1. Heyne, by this easy explanation, clears the 
ode of much obscurity .—Castor and Pollux, when deified, were always represented as friendly 
to man. 

V, 9. Admiring silence.'] Here seems an allusion to something new in the music attending 
this ode, of which we now know nothing. The poet's words are " the measure is new and 
worthy of silent attention." 



36* 

A. I. 

Begin the dance, in triumph lead 

With chaplets crown'd each haughty steed ! 

A work of heav'nly hands 

The glorious hour of victory demands ! 

With the sweet flute their voice divine 15 

Harmonious let the Muses join 

And strike the varying Lyre 

In praise of Theron with extatic fire. 

Glory, thy fountains from Olympia's plain 

Roll their rich floods and swell the heav'n-directed strain 20 

E. 1. 

Around her honour'd Victor, who receives 

From Pisa's righteous judge the light-green leaves 

Of olive wild . That graceful wreath 

Did mighty Hercules bequeath 

To bind his champion's brow. Alcides' hand 25 

This lovely plant, wide-branching o'er the land 

V. 11. Begin the dance.'] Let it be constantly kept in mind, that these victories were 
honoured with a triumphal procession the most splendid imaginable, attended with music and 
dancing. So high an honour was it deemed to the city which gave the victor birth, that a 
breach was made in the walls for the procession to pass through. It is supposed the Roman 
triumph, that most august spectacle, took its rise from an imitation of these exhibitions. 
We see something of the same spirit prevail among the ancient Israelites, when David was. 
received with songs of triumph by his countrywomen, and when he himself returned in 
triumph with the ark, leading a sacred dance. 

V. 19. Glory, thy.} i. e. Olympic victories were the most honourable. 



37 

Where Ister's bubbling fountains rise, 
Bore to Olympia and proclaim'd her prize* 

s. 9. 
On the cold Hyperborean plains, 

Where chief-adored Apollo reigns, 30 

The plants he ask'd, that Jove 
Might see them rise Olympia's sacred grove, 
And to their boughs, the honoured prize, 
Contending myriads lift their eyes. 

For now to heav'n's high Sire 35 

New-lighted altars breathe their holy fire, 
And o*er the verge of eve her full eye bends 
The moon ; rekindling heav'n her golden car ascends* 

A. 2 

Now must the judge the palm decide 

Where ridgy Alpheus whirls his tide ; 40 

V. 38. The moon. 1 The beauty of the original word, which expresses " that the moon 
shone with opposite fire, i. e. to the sun," I cannot preserve. Perhaps our bard had this ex- 
pression in his mind, when he employed his golden pen to describe these luminaries ; since 
nothing great or beautiful in nature or language escaped his notice : 

" less bright the moort 

But opposite in levell'd west was set 
His mirror." — 
It may be thought that the poet ought rather to have mounted this queen of the evening 
in a silver car. But Pindar's image is both animated and exact : for as she is first lighting her 
fire in the horizon, she rather resembles gold. In plain prose this would be, it was now the 
full moon, which marks the time of celebrating the games. 



38 

Now comes the mighty day 

That must the great quinquennial rites display s 

The dales all-bare Alcides found 

That skirt bleak Cronion around; 

For not a tree was seen 45 

Against the sun to wave her branches green, 

Temp'ring the fierceness of his tyrant reign. 

The sacred rites perform'd, he seeks the Istrian plain ; 

e. 2. 

Latona's huntress-daughter stretch'd her hand 

To greet the hero from Arcadia's land, 50 

When from the mountain's rugged brow 

He trac'd the winding vales below. 

The hind he seeks, so rigid Fate ordains, 

Whose glitt'ring horns of gold flash o'er the plains : 

Grateful for Dian's favour shown 55 

The spotless maid inscrib'd it for her own. 

V. 48. The sacred rites .] Reader, if thou art not well acquainted with Pindar, thou wilt 
be apt to think with the vulgar, that he is too obscure to deserve thy notice. Observe then 
once for all, it is frequent with him first to mention the fact done, and then to trace back from 
the beginning the manner how. This he does in the present instance. Hercules asked the 
plant. On what occasion ? The poet describes first the celebration of the games, imme- 
diately after which Hercules went upon another expedition into the country, where he saw 
the trees. 

V. 56. The sjwi/ess maid.] Taygeta, who inscribed on the horn a dedication of the animal 
to Diana, for having changed her into an hind, by which means this chaste and grateful virgin 
had avoided the detested embraces of the great king of gods. 

" And melancholy mark'd him for her own." Gr. 



39 

s. 3. 
Past the wild ridge, where Boreas throws 
Congeal'd his ever-deep'ning snows, 
Urging the chace he stood 

And gaz'd upon the trees that fring'd the flood. 60 

The lovely olive charms his eyes, 
He burns to bid the sweet plant rise 
Where rapid coursers roll 

The glowing chariot twelve times round the goal. 

Him now the deep-zoned Leda's twins divine 65 

This festival to grace with steps propitious join. 

a. 3. 

For when a god he rose to heav*n, 

To them his grand behest was giv'n, 

The contest to prepare 

And each crown won by valour to declare, 70 

Or by the chariot's rapid wheels. 

My glowing soul fresh ardour feels 

For all thy race to light, 

Theron, the torch of glory ever-bright ; 

The Gods, whose rites ye still observe, ordain 75 

Crown of your pious vows, the honours of the plain. 

V, 64. The glowing .] The Olympic course. 

V.66, This festival.} The festival for celebrating this victory of Theron— Heyne. Hercules 
attends as founder of the games, they, for the reason expressed in the antistrophe. 



40 

Nought can excel pure water's genuine stream, 

Nought can outshine gold's ever-precious gleam ; 

Grasp but at once the highest prize, 

All else will fade before thine eyes. 80 

Thus Theron's virtues strike the farthest land 

Quick-glancing where Alcides' columns stand : 

Wise or unwise, that boundless main 

Mortal must not explore ; th' attempt were vain, 



F. 82. Quick-glaneing where ] A figurative expression, often used by Pindar, to show that 
his hero's glory had attained the utmost limit. — Hercules set up his pillars near the Straights, 
being the most western part of the world at that time known. 

The design of this third Ode. Pindar begins with addressing those to whom Hercules assigned 
the care of these games, whence he interweaves an account how Hercules first found the olive 
which he planted at Olympia. As this was the great prize, it is not to be wondered that the 
poet should give a particular account how it came to be so highly valued. He accordingly 
concludes with describing the honour of gaining this wreath as the greatest possible. 



OLYMPIC ODE IV. 

IN PRAISE OF PSAUMIS, OF CAMARINA, VICTOR IN THE 

CHARIOT-RACE. 



GREAT Jove, almighty Sire, 

Hurl'd from whose hand the fire 

Of heav'n expands its never- wearied wing ; 

Lo ! sent by thy revolving hour, 

Witness of glorious feats, I strike the string ! 5 

The good for friends triumphant call the pow'r 

Of each fond Muse, with joy their praise to sing. 

This hymn, almighty Jove ! 

If the sweet Graces thou dost love, 

High-thron'd o'er iEtna, hear, whose dreadful breath 10 

Blasts heav'n, while Typhon rolls his monstrous bulk beneath. 

A. 

Honour for ever bright 
Is Virtue's genuine light. 

V. 4. Lo! sent %.] i. e. The time of celebrating the Olympic games sacred to Jove. 

G 



42 

Lo ! car-borne Psaumis comes : his coursers bear 

Glory to Camarina's walls ! 15 

See, Pisa's olive shades the Victor's hair ! 

If on your name with pious vow he calls, 

J ust gods, propitious hearken to his pray'r I 

'Tis his the steed to train ; 

Peace o'er his bosom holds her reign ; 20 

His heart breathes hospitality and love : 

Experience shall my words unstain'd with falsehood prove. 

E. 

Experience, lamp of truth, 
Beam'd lustre on the youth 

At Lemnos starting swift for Glory's prize : 25 

The damsels laugh' d around, 
But clashing o'er the ground 
The Victor stands before their wond'ring eyes 
And from Hypsipyle's fair hands 

The palm, herself propos'd, demands ; SO 

" Lo ! 'tis not age that wraps this head in snow, 

M Youth fires my heart, strength nerves my arm, as speed has crown'd 
my brow." 

V. 23. Experience.'] Pindar compares his hero to Erginus, one of the Argonauts, during 
whose stay at Lemnos, Hypsipyle instituted games. Being prematurely grey-headed heat 
first was despised, till he came in victorious. This is the common, and after all seems the 
most satisfactory account. But see Pye's note. 

V . 27. But clashing.'] He ran in armour. 



OLYMPIC ODE V. 



IN THIS ODE ARE CELEBRATED THREE VICTORIES OF PSAUMIS, 



XjlAIL Caniarina, wide-spread lake, 

Daughter of the azure main, 

With cheerful heart this ofTring take 

Of Virtue's flow'rs, and hear the strain. 

Swift the thriee-crown'd Psaumis flies, a 

Mules unwearied whirl his car, 

Holding aloft th' Olympic prize 

To thee he brings it from afar. 

With recent joy his country glows 

His honour and his praise to share. 10 

To heavVs high pow'rs he pays his vows 

Grateful for their guardian care. 



V. 1 . Hail.~\ Camarina is the name of the lake and of the town. 

V. 5. Swift the thriee-crown'd.] Two other victories have been generally understood to be 
mentioned by the poet. Heyne gives a different interpretation ; but there seems a difficulty 
in his explanation, which would apparently confine the games to the races of horses and 
mules. They lasted five days ; it would be a singular expression in the poet to say, " the 
five days' contests for horses and mules," unless these had been the only contests. 



44 

To them six altars rise, 

On each a two-fold sacrifice ; 

Five days did Conflict animate the field, 15 

Thrice shout as thrice his triumph she beheld. 

Success and glory swelFd the voice of Fame 

When with his sire's she haiPd the new-rais'd city's name. 

A. 

From that fair land, where Pelops strove 

And crown'd with honour rul'd the state, SO 

The Victor comes thy sacred grove, 

Chaste guardian queen, to celebrate, 

And the rich stream that flows beside, 

Oanus, and immensely spread 

The mighty lake, its country's pride, 25 

And the green banks, which thousands tread 

Where Hipparis in lovely course 

Deep-swelling rolls, the plenteous springs 

To taste, whose tide with secret force 

Slow the cumbrous forest brings. 30 

V. 1 3. To Ihem.] Each altar was dedicated to two gods, on which Psaumis offered sacrifices for 
three distinct victories, in the chariot-race, the race gained by mules, and that by a single horse. 

V. 19. From that fair.} Peloponnesus, in which was Olympia. See ode 1st. 

V. 22. Chaste guardian.'] Pallas. 

V. 30. Sloiv the.] The city, which had been ruined, Psaumis had been very active to 
rebuild. This victory is another honour which redounds to his country. It is doubted by 
Heyne whether the poet's meaning has not been perverted by those who say, " the timber 
being brought along the stream occasioned some of his expressions." 



45 

Thus a new city shows 

Her tow'rs ; with recent pride she glows. 

From lib'ral gold and toil the Virtues rise 

And snatch from Peril his well-guarded prize. 

Still uneclips'd bright Glory pours her rays, 35 

Crown'd with success the wise claim universal praise. 

Guardian Jove, whose fav'ring eyes 

Thy Cronion's sacred peak behold, 

Thron'd o'er the clouds that skirt the skies ; 

Sacred to whom the floods are rolFd 40 

Of Alpheus wide ; to whom his cave 

Fam'd Ida consecrates ; my pray'r 

For this thy city great and brave 

To Lydian pipes soft-breathing hear ; 

Grant her heroes, grant her fame, 45 

Grant Psaumis happy length of years, 

While, to emulate his name, 

Round him a rising race appears ! 

'Tis his with gen'rous care to train 

Neptunian steeds that thunder o'er the plain ; o0 

V. 33. From liberal gold.] The expense attending the chariot-race. Pindar always com- 
mends those who are more desirous of glory than gold. 

V. 50. Neptunian.] Neptune was said first to haye produced the horse. 



46 

His toil with prudence to employ 

And fill his hands with rising flow'rs of joy. 

Victorious hero hail ! To thee is giv'n 

Wealth, honour — be content; nor, mortal, aim at heav'n. 



V. 54. Wealth, honour.] The poet ends with a sentence which at once contains a compli- 
ment and advice. " Te duce Caesar" is the well-known impious line which concludes an 
ode in Horace ; for its elegance indeed admirable. But we read Horace and Virgil with such 
continual delight, that in their poetry we even see mortals adored as gods without an exclama- 
tion. Pindar, though full of compliments, never flatters thus. The Grecian philosopher 
disdained even to fall prostrate before the great monarch. Yet Horace and Virgil, natives of 
that country which held the world in subjection, condescended to deify. Let the deist, who 
pretends to admire the classics, read Pindar : it will not hurt his style. He will see how 
little human reason was able to improve Pindar's notions of religion in so many ages. 



OLYMPIC ODE VI. 

TO AGESIAS, OF SYRACUSE, SON OF SOSTRATUS, FOR A VICTORY 
GAINED BY MULES IN A CHARIOT RACE. 



s. I. 

HlGH the well-built portals raise, 

With ample front the massy dome extend, 

Which from its burnish'd columns far displays 

A golden light ; sweet Muse ! to heav'n ascend 

Thy lofty structure of immortal praise; 

(Jove's priest victorious claims thy lays;) 

Unenvied peals of triumph pour around, 

While his Sicilian shores the gladd'ning notes resound. 



The design. — As Agesias was Jove's priest, the poet keeps that circumstance constantly 
in mind throughout the ode. He compares him to a prophet remarkable for piety ; in tracing 
his pedigree, he mentions many persons favourites of gods. He attributes his hero's victory 
to the favour of Mercury, whose rites his family, by the mother's side, had been careful to 
observe ; he even introduces the thunderer himself showing favour to his hero, 

V. 4. A golden.'] This strophe is a bold figure of the poet, comparing his own ode to a 
splendid building with a front far conspicuous. 



48 



a. 1. 

Hear, son of Sostratus, the strain ! 

Tis toil alone and peril that shall crown 10 

Him, who by land or o'er the raging main 

Seeks honour ; round the world his name is blown* 

As, when of yore the deeply-yawning ground 

Swallow'd the Bard in depths profound, 

Adrastus mourn'd his hero wise and good ; 15 

Far from the deep-sunk car and steeds aghast he stood ; 

E. 1. 

His slaughter'd hosts in sev'n high pyres 

Collected roll their last-consuming fires 

When thus the chieftain; " Dark thy glories lie! 

" There clos'd the brightest eye 20 

" Of these my hosts ! sharp thine unerring spear, 

u But with a keener light 

" Pierc'd thy brilliant sight 

" Through deep futurity !" such praise, I swear, 

Agesias, such is thine ; and all 25 

The maids of sacred song to hear my oath I call. 

V. 13. As, when.} Amphiaraus, remarkable for prophecy and piety. Of him the tragic 
poet said, " he wishes to be, not to appear, the best." He, engaging in the war against 
Thebes, was swallowed up by the earth. The praise which Adrastus, who headed the expe- 
dition, bestowed upon Amphiaraus, Pindar says is due to the hero of the ode. Adrastus, ac- 
cording to our poet, called this prophet, with inimitable elegance, the eye of all his hosts. 



49 

s. 2. 
Quick, my soul, the car ascend, 
Tossing your wreath-bound heads, ye coursers trace , 
(For cheering Victory shall fresh vigour lend) 

The splendid sources of the hero's race. ^0 

Rise, ev'ry Muse, your hallow'd gates fling wide 
(While through on rapid wheels we glide) 
The gates of harmony. Eurotas' stream 
And Pitane appear, be thou, fair nymph, my theme. 

A. 2. 
Evadne she to Neptune bore ; 35 

Secret she blush'd, nine months saw not her shame* 
Then to th' Arcadian monarch's pitying door 
Bearing the child her suppliant servants came. 
He took and rear'd with fost'ring care the maid. 
She when in youth's full bloom array'd 40 

V. 27. Quick, my sou/.'] Pindar here breaks forth into a strain of poetry peculiarly his 
own. He is beginning to trace back his hero's blood as far as Pitane.* Heyne has dared to 
call this " lusus ingeniosus, lusus tamen." Those, whose heads turn giddy when they are 
whirled along by the rapidity of Pindar's car, should not reflect upon his Muse, who is there 
seated in majesty and grace. Ingenious and bold indeed she is. Her flights disdain criticism, 
at least such criticism as presumes to judge without some considerable portion of her divine 
fire. Similar to this probably were the flights which made Pindar compare himself to an 
eagle, and those who blamed him, to — — ; but we will forbear, for the sake of the truly 
sagacious and learned Heyne. 

V. 28. Ye coursers.'] «■ Mules" in the original. 

V, 37. Then lo th 1 ."] OEpytus, of Phassana, near the Alpheus. 

* This Pitane was a nymph, who probably gave her name to the town on the banks of 
the Eurotas. 

H 



50 

With love's sweet passion touch'd Apollo's breast ; 
With ardour sprang the God and the fair maid coraprest. 

e. 2. 
With anxious heart Evadne strove 
To hide the still-increasing fruit of love, 

Bat vain her care i the king ere long perceiv'd, 45 

Awhile in secret griev'd, 
Last to consult the Pythian voice he goes 
And scarce contains his ire 
Smould'ring in sullen fire ; 

She seeks the lonely wood ; to ease her throes 50 

Beside her urn at heavVs command 
Loosing her purple zone Fate and Lucina stand. 

s. 3. !1 ' 

Quick her travail ends in joy, 
Young Iamus is born, nor pain she knew. 

On violet-couch weeping she leaves her boy ; 55 

Swift to the tender charge two dragons flew 
Sent by the Gods : their glaring eyes turn mild, 
Food not their own they bring the child, 
The harmless sweets of bees. Meantime returns 
The king ; " where is the child, Eyadne's child ?" he burns 60 

V . 59. The harmless meeti.] Pauw has an ingenious note upon this passage, but does not 
convince me that all besides himself arc blind. He would have us understand real poison 



51 

a. 3. 

To clasp Apollo's son, a seer 

Proclaimed by heav'n above all mortals great, 

Whose children, one still-length'ning line, appear 

Through distant ages, such the word of Fate, 

Unseen by all, with bushes close-array y d 65 

The soft limbs of the babe were laid, 

Five mornings, blushing o'er his flowVy bed, 

Moist spangles all around of gold and purple shed. 



converted into good food as sweet as honey. " If real honey were intended," he asks, " what 
need of dragons." In return I ask, what food he supposes the dragons gave the child. Does 
he imagine they suckled the infant ? " The bees should have been his nurses," says he, 
" if the food were honey." I should like to see bees employed even miraculously, or at the 
command of this wise critic ; (for Pindar in his wildest moments never had such a thought) 
1 should like to see bees employed in feeding the child. They bring the materials, we know, 
but Pindar ordered not the bees to turn the infant's mouth into a hive. The dragons there.* 
fore were wanted, and at the god's command did bring honey from the bees. So others 
understand it. 

V. 68. Moist spangles.'] Pindar's muse delights to cull the most exquisite flowers, which 
she often plucks from the very brow of the steepest rock or peak of the highest mountain : 
to enjoy the freshness therefore of their fragrance we must follow her to precipices where we 
stand breathless, must ascend sometimes among the clouds. In the present passage the 
beauty is inexpressible, and the translator feels his danger. The child lay amidst rushes, 
under a bush which dropped gems of dew upon his limbs, reposed on a bed of violets. The 
falling drops Pindar calls rays of purple and gold. The sun shining through the drops might 
suggest the idea. The colours might be reflected from the violets, " of which flowers," 
says Miller, " there are varieties ; in some the yellow is the prevailing colour, in others the 
purple." Pauw would alter the reading ; he would turn Pindar's gold, as Heyne observes, 
into brass. He does not approve the expression of " limbs moistened with rays j" and why I 
He gravely and philosophically tells us, " rays would rather dry them." I never felt greater 
temptation to be guilty of a pun. 



* 



52 



e. 5. 

From those bright flow'rs, that round him smil'd 

In lovely sweets cradling her infant child, 70 

Evadne named her son. His youth full-blown, 
To silver Alpheus down 
He steps and to the authors of his line 
Due honours to assume 

He prays, through midnight's gloom 75 

\ ' Retiring; sole. Answ'rinsr a voico divine 



* t Forth-brake, which search'd his trembling frame ; 



* ^ " My son, this voice attend to realms of future fame." 

^\\4 " Where clouds o'er lofty Cf onion roll 

They both retire; the treasures of his art 80 



j 



Prophetick Phoebus pours upon his soul ; 
First what the voices of the air impart 
He bids him know ; when Hercules shall found 
The games and myriads throng around 

V. 71. E-cadne named.'] Iamus is derived from the Greek word for violet. 

V. 73. To the authors of his line.] Apollo and Neptune. But in all the editions I have seea 
the answer is from one god alone, Apollo. Nor would Neptune have been properly employed 
in communicating the gift of prophecy. Such an error is however well compensated by the 
general elegance which is discovered in Pye's translation, and I heartily wish mine may have 
no greater mistakes. 

V. 82. First what the voices.] The art of prophesying by augury and by fire. The voice is 
supposed to be that of birds, from which the. augurs predicted events. 



53 

Jove's altar, then, a bard of miglitier name, 85 

Assume his honour'd seat and light his holy flame. 

A. 4. 
Fair Fortune from that happy hour 
His mighty race thro' Greece conspicuous rais'd. 
He, who reveres the virtues, gains their dow'r, 

Bright all his paths, his merit prov'd and prais'd ; 90 

Envy in vain may rise, in vain may throw 
Her mists around the Victor's brow. 
Favour'd of heav'n, Agesias, to the skies 
Oft did Cyllene see the smoke high-curling rise 

e. 4. 
To Hermes who with guardian care 95 

Shields his Arcadia ; while in constant pray'r 
Thy sires, the ancient dwellers of the land, 
Lifted their pious hand 
To the same Hermes, who the prize assigns ; 

Grateful he grants thee fame 100 

And Jove proclaims thy name 
In echoing thunder ; nor thy praise declines 
My willing Muse. She shall impart 
Her glowing thought, her voice to ardour wake my heart 5 



V. 99. To the same Hermes."] His ancestors, by the mother's side, were remarkable for 
observing religious rites in honour of Mercury or Hermes. 



M 



s. 5. 

For Tiiebe boasts her lovely spring 105 

(Whose stream! drink) drawn from Arcadian sire; 

Proud of my birth, for heroes will I string 

Spite of the taunt, my loud-resounding lyre. 

Strike then to great Parthenian Juno's praise 

And bid the Choir their voices raise, 110 

Sweet Herald of the tuneful nine, and show 

In soft melodious airs Baeotia's voice can flow. 

a. 5. 
Ortygia sing and Syracuse 
"Where royal Hiero's unstain'd sceptre reigns, 

Him owns the sweet-ton'd lyre, the grateful Muse. 115 

Thou, Ceres, stepping o'er thy golden plains. 
Thou Proserpine and thou iEtnean Jove 
For ever share his pious love. 
Safe stand his fortune 'gainst the tide of years ! 
May each triumphal shout be musick to his ears 120 

V. 105. For Tkebe boasts.'] Pindar here uses a curious faction, that Thebe (whence Thebes) 
was related to Metope of Arcadia, the country of his hero. Hence he assigns a reason for 
being particularly willing to celebrate his hero's praise. 

V. 109. Strike then.'] He here addresses the leader of the band, whom he styles herald of 
the Muses, to strike to Juno's praise, because she was particularly adored in the Parthenian 
mountain, in his hero's country. The taunt was a proverb, comparing Boeotians to swine for 
their stupidity. 

V. 120. May each triumphal."] i, c. May he feel no envy ! 



55 



e. 5. 

From distant walls, from distant plains 

When Victory shall lead her jovial trains, 

And from Arcadian to Sicilian home 

The mighty Victor come, 

A star of glory to each wond'ring land ! 1 25 

When furious night-blasts rave, 

Two anchors best shall save 

The bark ; stretch, heav'n$ o'er each thy guardian hand ! 

Guide, monarch of the golden mace, 

His course, and with fresh bloom my Muse's flowret grace ! 

V. 127. Two anchors.] The two countries, Stymphalus and Syracuse. For his ancestors, 
on the mother's side, were of Stymphalus in Arcadia, where he seems to have dwelt, though 
his parents seem now to have been inhabitants of Syracuse. There is not perhaps any one of 
Pindar's odes which exhibits more of his peculiar manner than this. He begins with a bold 
comparison ; he throws in a moral sentence ; he starts away into another comparison, in a 
few words giving an account of an ancient hero ; he ascends the triumphal car to follow the 
hero's genealogy, a thing he always delights in ; again he adds a pious sentence, not forgetting 
to introduce a proverb, another thing of which he is exceedingly fond : he concludes with a 
hint against envy, and a prayer for his hero and his own poetry. So much variety and sub= 
limity, in so small a compass, may well occasion some obscurity. 



OLYMPIC ODE VIL 

TO DIAGORAS, OF RHODES, PUGILIST. 

s. 1. 

As when some sire stretching his bounteous hand 
Holds the bright nuptial cup, which glows 
Sparkling with fragrant foam and throws 
A richer smile of golden hue 

Around the sweet vine's purple dewj & 

"While all the bridal friends admiring stand 
And high-distingnish'd o'er the rest behold 
The favour'd youth, to whom he bears the gold 
Pledge of his love, bright emblem of his wealth, 

Consign'd from house to house, and pours his vows ; 10 

u All blessings wait thee, harmony and health !" 
Then, tasting with glad lips, the precious boon bestows; 

a. I. 

So the rich nectar of immortal fame, 
The Muse's heav'nly gift, which breathes 

V . 1. As when.'] This comparison ot the Muse's hymn to a golden cup of wine, presented 
by a father at the nuptials of his daughter to the envied bridegroom, who keeps the sacred 
pledge to be transmitted from generation to generation, contains so much sweetness and ele- 
gance that poetry can scarce exhibit any tiling superior. 



51 

Sweeter than Victory's sweetest wreaths, 15 

Choice produce of the raptur'd mind, 

Delicious feast of souls refin'd, 

I pour ; Olympia hails each honour'd name, 

Pytho resounds the glad triumphal lays. 

Thrice happy he, who gains eternal praise ! 20 

That Grace, who strews our life with fragrant flow'rs, 

Her heroes with alternate smile surveys ; 

All the SWeet tones of warbling flutes she pours, 

While o'er th' ambrosial lyre her hand in rapture strays* 

E. 1. 

Now jovial both shall sound 25 

While o'er the festal ground 
Diagoras I lead. The Muses rise ! 
Thee, sea-born Rhodes, they sing 

V. 18. I pour,] Pindar's odes, written in celebration of victories gained at Olympia and 
Pytho, are as sweet as nectar, he says, not so much in praise of his own poetry as on account 
of the honourable occasion of these odes. Among the useful ends aimed at by the games, the 
encouragement of a thirst for glory was not the least, and Pindar constantly promoted this by 
his poetry. 

V. 21. That grace.] Pindar's bold and elegant figures, even in the original language, re- 
quired readers of imagination to relish them — " they sounded only to the wise." In a trans- 
lation it is often very difficult to represent them without obscurity. The poet's meaning 
here seems to be, " the muse sweetens the life of her heroes by her praises bestowed now on 
one, now on another." 

" Say, has he giv'n in vain the heav'nly Muse ?" Gr. 

V. 28. Thee, sea-born.'] A more literal translation, I conceived, would ill suit the English 
reader. There is not indeed, in my opinion, any passage in Pindar more difficult to understand 
or explain than this. The island which gave birth to the hero of the ode, took its name from 

1 



58 

Lov'd by the glorious king 

Who rolls his chariot o'er the vaulted skies ; 30 

(As from the foam she rose 

Thy peerless nymph he chose) ; 

Thy tow'r-like champion shall their praises share. 



Rhodos, a nymph, which in Greek is the name of the isle itself; but whether Pindar in this 
place speaks of the isle or the lady, or both confused under one name, it seems not easy to 
determine. If he speak of the nymph only, there seems a want of connection with what fol- 
lows ; if he speak of the isle, it seems a strange expression to call it the daughter of Venus 
and bride of Apollo. If we conceive the poet intended to personify the isle, the fourth epode 
does not seem well to accord with this notion ; and yet she might be the nymph of the isle, as 
some gods were represented to be gods of rivers, &c. which representation has often caused 
great confusion and absurdity. Of this many instances occur where poets represent as persons 
what do not well admit of personification, or at least where they extend the figure too far. 
Virgil's well-known description of Atlas, at once a man and a mountain, with rivers running 
down his chin, (JEn. 4, v. 245) may suffice to explain my meaning. This supposition I 
think best clears Pindar's expression, and at once renders him consistent with himself and 
other writers. Thus Pindar would express himself according to this interpretation ; " I 
come now to celebrate Rhodos the nymph, daughter of Venus and bride of Apollo." And 
why to celebrate the nymph ? Eecause it was her isle which gave birth to Diagoras the victor. 
If Rhodos was merely a nymph from whom the isle was named, it was nothing to that nymph 
that a native of the isle, merely named from her, was victorious ; but if she was the nymph 
of the isle in the sense above-mentioned, she was more interested in the hero's praises. Pindar 
will thus be consistent with himself. But we want also to make him consistent with other 
writers. Now one calls this Rhodos daughter of Amphitrite and Sol; another calls her 
daughter of Neptune and Venus ; another daughter of the Ocean ; all three however are thus 
far agreed, that she derived her birth from the sea or a sea-deity. Why then does Pindar call 
her daughter of Venus ? I conceive because the Greek name for Venus was derived from the 
sea-foam. She may also be said to be the bride of Apollo, because upon her island of Rhodes 
the sun was said to shine every day in the year. But I despaired of exhibiting these ideas in 
the English translation. 

V. 33. Thy louPr-IUce."] Diagoras was of uncommon stature. 

V. 34. For Aipheus.'] Alpheus and Ca'stalia denote Olympic and Pythian victories. See 

Index. i 



59 

For Alpheus saw his crown, 

Castalia his renown 35 

Won by fierce blows, heard echoing thro' the air. 

Each city hears the lyre 

Guardian of Justice hail his sire 

Thro' all the isle where settled Lerna's hosts 

Near the proud cliffs whose beak surveys wide Asia's coasts, 40 

s. 2. 
Blest isle of heroes, hail ! To thee her fire 
Lights the bright Muse. Hail, noble race, 
Who your illustrious lineage trace 
From great Tlepolemus, the son 

Of him, whose ancient sceptre shone 45 

Conspicuous far, Alcides, your great sire ! 
Your fathers thus from heav'n's almighty king 
Their honour'd birth derive. Thy race I sing, 
Astydameia, thine, whose noble blood 
Rose from Amy ntor ;, his from sov'reign Jove; 50 

V. 39. The isle.'] Rhodes, where settled a colony of Argives, denoted by Lerna an Argive lake. 

V. 40. Near the proud.'] This appears to me the more natural construction. It seems pro- 
bable the beak mentioned in Pindar was the promontory of the island itself, which was oppo- 
site to Asia. But the spirit of poetry evaporates if we make such considerations as these our 
grand care. Pindar is but little read, the prejudice against him must be rendered the stronger, 
the more stress is laid upon matters which relate to history, geography, or chronology, or 
indeed any thing rather than poetry. 

V. 42. Hail, noble.] Pindar now addresses the Rhodians, derived by Tlepolemus on the 
father's side, and Astydameia on the mother's, from Jupiter; though this is net clearly ex- 
pressed in the original. 



60 

Thus flow'd from one rich fountain either flood. 

Yet weak are mortal souls tho' sprung from heav'nly love, 

A. 2. 
Still-hov'ring Error clouds the human mind. 
Ah ! who with prescient art can know 

"Whether some distant-lurking woe 55 

In varying Fortune's mazy way 
Shall damp the blessings of to-day ? 
No wisdom each obscure event can find. 
For, ere he held the sceptre of this land 

Tlepolemus with fury rais'd his hand, 60 

Struck with an olive's trunk Licymnius dies. 
Sudden our passions rise, and borne astray 
By their mad blast bewilder ev'n the wise ! 
Heart-struck to learn heav'n's will he takes his lonely way. 

e. 2. 
Forth from the fragrant shrine 65 

Then breath'd the voice divine 
The golden-hair'd Apollo's high command, 
From Lerna's distant shores 



V. 59. For, ere he.} How Tlepolemus became ruler of the land Pindar now relates, i. e. 
from the oracle which sent him to Rhodes ; a long fabulous account of which island he turns 
aside to give us. The matter is variously related as to the murder of Licymnius by Tlepo- 
lemus. Those who wish to be satisfied as to such stories may consult the biographical 
dictionaries. 



61 

To ply his nuni'rous oars 

And moor his fleet upon the sea-girt land 70 

Where Jove once deign'd to pour 

Rich flakes in golden show'r 

O'er all the city from dissolving skies ; 

What time by wond'rous art 

His head was seen to part ; 75 

Lo ! Vulcan's hand the brazen axe applies, 

And forth Minerva springs 

And shouts aloud*: the welkin rings 

While with rude clash her rattling arms resound ; 

Heav'n at the dread form quakes, strange horror rocks the ground. 80 

s. 3. 
Then the great God, whose all-enliv'ning flame 
The smiling face of nature cheers, 
His admonition sage declares, 

V. 73. See v. 103. Pindar confuses those who are not well aware of his manner, by first 
giving a hint of the matter upon which he afterwards enlarges. The same manner was noticed 
in Olympic Ode the third. 

V. 74. What.] Milton, in his famous allegory of Sin and Death, disdained not to imitate 
Pindar's strange and disgusting fiction. West ingeniously softens the expression to render it 
more agreeable to modern taste. I had followed his example ; but perhaps, as it seems to be 
too much the fashion of the day to suppose that revealed religioa has but little improved 
men's sentiments, it may not have a bad effect to exhibit these strange religious descriptions 
of this great and pious genius in the same glaring colours as he did himself. 

V. 81. Then the great god.^ It had been foretold that Minerva would protect that people 
who should first make offerings to her. The Rhodians were the first, but the Athenians made 
the first offerings with fire, and therefore claimed the first favour of the goddess. 



62 

That all his Rhodians should adore 

With strictest rites the martial pow'r §5 

And raise a splendid altar to her name, 

And straight their offerings with religious care 

To her great father and herself prepare. 

So gleams in twilight o'er the human mind 

Wisdom's dim orb witli faintly-tremulous ray ; 90 

In that short fleeting hour sad mortals find 

Virtue and blessed joy ; but soon they fade away. 



Instead, behold a black oblivious cloud 

Its billowy gloom begins to roll 

Hov'ring o'er the darken'd soul, 95 

Then lost in error's trackless way 

Through many a devious path we stray. 

So err'd the Rhodians ; piously they vow'd, 

With rev'rent caution mark'd the sacred ground, 

With warm devotion they assembled round, 100 

But from their sacrifice no flames arise ; 

Jove (for his eye discerns their truth of heart) 

Rolling a lucid cloud along the skies, 

Rains gold ; Minerva fires their souls to ev'ry art : 

V. 91. In that short.'] In a similar strain sung our Melpomene : 

" Such the dubious ray 

That wavering reason lends in life's long darkling way." 



63 



A grace, a force divine 105 

In all their efforts shine, 

Confess'd the unrivaTd gift of heav'n alone : 

In each street from their hands 

Breathing and moving stands 

Full many a form of animated stone. HO 

Immense the fame they gain'd ; 

Cold precept never train 'd 

To that nice touch which glows with genuine fire. 

Knowledge can ne'er impart 

Those rays, that warm the heart 5 115 

'Tis heav'n alone true genius can inspire. 

Hail Rhodes belov'd of heav'n ! 

When to each God by lot was giv'n 

His portion of the earth, one azure plain 

Far o'er thy face was stretch'd, one wide, deep-rolling main. 320 

s. 4. 
Apollo then was absent from the sky. 
And when th' assembled sons of heav'n 



V. 112. Cold precept never.] The man who learns only may acquire a mechanical know- 
ledge, but it will be without art or genius. This was to the Rhodigns the gift of heaven. 
" <Poko$" is used for art or skill, Ol. 9. 138. The poet thus at least speaks consistently 
and this sentiment occurs more than once in his writings. 



64 

Took each his lot, no share was giv'n 

To that great God, whose flames of gold 

Around the bright'ning world are roll'd. 125 

Great Jove commands again the lot to try. 

The prescient God forbids. His piercing glance 

Far o'er the billowy ocean's blue expanse 

Forth from the oozy-bottom'd deep descries 

A land, where verdant meads begin to smile, ISO 

Its still-increasing mass upheaving, rise, 

Soon flocks and herds and hosts shall clothe the favour'd isle. 

a. 4. 
That instant Jove gave his almighty word 
To Lachesis with golden zone 

To stand before th' eternal throne, 135 

And, while he gives th' assenting nod, 
By Styx, dread pow'r which binds each God, 
Stretching her hand to swear with heav'n's high Lord, 
" Soon as its cliffs gleam o'er the billowy plain 
" Apollo's sacred isle it shall remain." 140 



V, 127. The prescient god."] Hence Mason: 

" Plunging deep 

His mighty arm, pluck'd from its dark domain 
This throne of freedom, lifted it to light, 
Girt it with silver cliffs, and call'd it Britain." 



65 

Jove's order Fate and Truth approving heard 
And with eternal seal confirm'd the boon. 
Above the eddying floods the isle appear'd 
High-seated, and the God asserts it for his own, 

e. 4. 
Henceforth with pow'rful hand 145 

This highly-favour'd land 
Holds the great father of all-piercing light, 
And with celestial smile 
For ever cheers his isle 

While his fire-breathing steeds pursue their flight. 150 

Glowing his full beams play'd 
With ardour round the maid 
Fair Rhodos, for whose charms he left the skies. 
From her derive their birth 

Sev'n sons, fam'd over earth 155 

In days of yore beyond all mortals wise. 
Th' illustrious three thence rose 
To whom the isle three cities owes ; 
Each takes in each his seat and bids his name 
In his lov'd city live to everlasting fame. 160 



V. 157. Th' illustrious three.~\ One of these seven sons was father of Ialysus, Camirus, 
and Lindus, each of whom founded a city, which took its name from the founder. 

K 



66 



s. 5. 

TIepolemus, who led Tiryntha's host, 

Here ends his toil. Around him rise 

The clouds of fragrant sacrifice 

As to a God ; and in his name 

Begins his country's hallow'd game, 165 

His earlier woe in sweet oblivion lost. 

Twice in this contest, wreath'd his brows around, 

Diagoras the pale-leaf 'd poplar crown'd. 

Full four times Corinth heard his glorious name, 

The Nemean woods resound and still again 170 

Return the loud recording voice of Fame, 

And Attica from hill to hill repeats the joyful strain. 

a. 5. 

Him did the brazen shield at Argos own, 

Him victor in the listed field 

Arcadia's dales and Thebes beheld ; 175 



V. 161. TIepolemus."] Here ends the digression, which at first seemed to have nothing to 
do with the subject of the ode, but is connected by the mention of the two victories gained 
in the contests sacred to TIepolemus, by the hero of the ode, in which a wreath of poplar was 
the prize. — This is one among many instances of the nice connections contrived by this poet» 
so delicate as almost to escape the eye. 

V . 167. Twice in.~\ Now follows an enumeration of victories. 

V. 173. Bim did.'] The brazen shield was the prize. 



61 

Basotia's contests fix'd by law 

Him the renowned conqu'ror saw ; 

iEgina's and Pellene's glorious crown 

Six times he bore. At Megara his name 

With equal glory mark'd the stone of Fame. 180 

Great Jove, from Atabyrion's lofty height 

Bend thine almighty brow, with fav'ring eyes 

Behold th' Olympic Victor in his might 

On Glory's pinion ♦soar ! To thee still grateful rise 

My hymn, celestial king ! 185 

Thou, while his feats I sing, 

Strew o'er his head flow'rs of immortal fame ! 

Let all his country hear 

And through the echoing air 

Let distant kingdoms hail his honour'd name; 190 

For from the hallow'd way 

Of justice never stray 

His steps ; there did his pious fathers tread : 

Jove, with the Graces, raise 



V '. 180. The stone of Fame. J A stone column. But the expression may admit of different 
interpretations. The poet's words are, " the stone has no other inscription." Than what ? 
" Than that he was victor," says Heyne. " Than his name," says West. That seems too 
hyperbolical. Is it not more natural to refer it to the last thing mentioned ? If so, we must 
understand six victories. 



68 

The name to endless praise, 195 

Their hands both sires and sons to glory led I 

What though the city flows 

In festal joy 5 to-morrow blows 

Perchance a rougher blast ; the varying day 

Now low'rs ; as veers the gale now shines with brightest ray. 200 



V . 200. Now low'rs.'] Pindar as to individuals so to whole cities, after celebrating their 
glories, suggests that as all depends upon Providence they ought to be ever prepared for 
a change. 



OLYMPIC ODE VIII. 

IN HONOUR OF ALCIMEDON AND TIMOSTHENES HIS BROTHER, 
VICTORS IN WRESTLING. 

s. 1. 

C/LYMPIA, mother of the golden crown, 

Which each triumphant champion wears; 

Whom, as their victims blaze, the seers 

Great queen of latent truths mysterious own, 

And from the altar as the flames arise, 5 

With warm devotion bending o'er, 

The will of thund'ring Jove explore, 

Whether the care of mortals reach the skies. 

Who seek eternal glory to obtain 

And the sweet rest which crowns long labours past and pain, 10 

The general design. The poet, to the praises of the two brothers, wishes to join those 
likewise of the unctoror anointer, a person whose office it was to train the heroes and prepare 
them for the contest ; who took his name from the custom of anointing the champion with 
oil before some of the combats, whence this became the general term in all. — In the course 
of the ode we find the poet instancing in two gods assisted by a mortal ; the aid being weak, 
the work even of gods could not stand. But when heroes have the assistance of another as 
great as Melesias, their fame shall be eternized. This seems to be Pindar's meaning. 

V. 3. Whom, as.~\ Sacrifices were there offered at tbe time of performing the games and 
oracles given, whence Pindar terms Olympia queen of truth. And we may easily conceive 
the heroes were eagerly inquisitive as to the success of their enterprizes, which, as usual, the 
pious poet attributes to Jupiter. 



70 



a. 1 



Such favour heav'n allows to pious pray'r : 

Hail j sacred grove ! beneath whose boughs 

The silver stream of Alpheus flows 

Darken'd with quiv'ring shade, these accents hear ; 

Admit glad Triumph with his wreathed brow. 15 

Still great and bright his glories rise 

Whose valour wins thy splendid prize. 

Through various channels various blessings flow. 

To each, as each excels, by fav'ring heav'n 

Full many difT'rent ways are difPrent honours giv'n. 20 

e. 1. 

Champions, above heav'n's vault 

The Fates your fame exalt 

At birth decreed by all-producing Jove 5 

Thee victor Nemea sees 

Renown'd Timosthenes, 25 



V. 15. Admit glad Triumph.] The triumphal procession. 

V. 22. The Fates. - ] The fame of the two brothers. 

V. 23. At birth decreed.] I am aware the word '* all-producing'.' does not express Pindar's 
full meaning. He calls Jupiter the author of generation, by which he seems to hint that 
Jupiter gave the heroes at birth that vigour which now crowned them with glory. This 
sentiment he expresses more fully. Nem. 5. st. 3. v. 10. 

V. 25. Let the reader be satisfied without repeated warnings of Pindar's custom of adding 
an account of any other victories at any time gained by the heroes, or their relations, to those 
praises which weie due on account of the victory celebrated. 






71 

While echoing Cronion's sacred heights above 

Roll the full praises of Alcimedon ; 

Graceful his form, in action great he shone; 

In vigorous feats he glows 

And glitt'ring from his brows, SO 

Fresh glory beams upon iEgina's land, 

Who with unrival'd pow'r 

Dashes her length of oar ; 

There Justice ever reigns : on Jove's right hand 

In heav'n she smiles and from her sacred seat 35 

Bends her lov'd isle to greet, 

s. 2. 

Firmly dispensing her eternal laws. 

Arduous midst men, where varying minds 

Of myriads jarr, the path she finds 

Which holds unswerving from the righteous cause* 40 

Or Fate or some immortal God's command 

Amid the deep-surrounding wave, 

Strangers of ev'ry coast to save, 

Fix'd the firm column of this shelt'ring land. 

And ever, while his ceaseless tide is roll'd 45 

Through ages, may the hand of Time unwearied hold 



V. 31. JEgina's /and,] The hero's country, 



72 

a. 2. 
This isle high-throned ! Here erst the Dorians reign'd 
When iEacus was now no more. 
His aid Latona's son of yore 

And Neptune calPd ; ev'n then stern Fate ordain'd 50 

(When first he saw the tow'rs of haughty Troy 
By their immortal hands arise 
Imperial, threat'ning to the skies. 
And iEacus with gods his aid employ) 

Those walls should feel war's thunders roll around, i>5 

Midst clouds of whirling smoke low-sinking on the ground. 

e. 2. 

For 'gainst the rising wall 

Two azure dragons fall 

Astonied and their baneful lives expire. 

With furious wing a third 60 

Darts ; from his jaws are heard 

Outcries of strange portent and hissings dire. 

V. 47. This isle.] Pindar now begins a digression, describing how Apollo and Neptune 
called i^acus to their assistance when they built the walls of Troy, A body of Argives, 
called here Dorians, under one Triacon, had occupied JEgina. 

V. 61. Darts.] In the original the wordi seem so remarkably the echo of the sense, that 

you see the sudden spring of the dragon and hear the very sounds he uttered. SK cT' Sffoptscrz 

Coct<Tci$. Virgil has an inimitable line in which you both hear and see the serpents lick 

their hissing mouths. 

" Sibila lambebant Unguis vibrantibus ora." 

Who can read the word " lambebant" without feeling what the poet expresses ? Your mouth 

is made to imitate that of the serpent ; it is therefore sympathy and not imagination. 



73 

This omen Phoebus, whose all-piercing eye 

Can the dark deep abysm of Time descry, 

With quick decision weighs # 65 

And to the hero says — 

" See, where thy feebler hands to raise the wall 

" With mightier pow'rs engage, 

" There shall War's hoarse waves rage 

" In all their horror, there the bulwarks fall. 70 

" Such is the meaning of this dire portent 

" By heav'n's high Thund'rer sent. 

s. 3. 
o • 
" Thy sons shall execute the work of Fate. 

" With thy first race begins to fall 

" Vengeance on this devoted wall, 75 

" Thy fourth shall seethe ruin of the state." 

The dreadful vision Phoebus thus explains, 

Then to the land, where Ister rolls, 

And where those great and martial souls 

The Amazons reside, directs his reins. 80 

Neptune the hero to iEgina brings, 

And as to Corinth's cliffs his rapid car he wings, 



V. 73. Thy sons skall.] The first race was Peleus and Telamon, who attended Hercules, 
and with him took the city : the fourth was Pyrrhus, who was present at its final destruc- 
tion. Benedictus. 

V. 78. 7 hen to.] The gods gato the places where they were respectively adored. 

t 



74 



a. 3. 

Drives his proud steeds arching their manes of gold; 

There from his altars wreaths arise 

Of smoke high-curling to the skies. — 85 

But see, my Muse, how mortals varying hold 

Diverse pursuits ! Quick to Melesias' praise 

Change now thy ever-tuneful string, 

- 

Defying Envy freely sing 

The well-earn'd triumphs of his earliest days. 90 

Hail him victorious, to full manhood grown 

By deeds of bravest might winning the Nemean croiYii, a 

e. a 
Well might the champion train 
Champions the prize to gain, 

Himself expert in all th' athletic art. 95 

Vain else th' attempt to teach 
Another hand to reach • 
That skill the skilful only can impart. 
Who like Melesias with fresh ardour feeds 
The soul to godlike and adventurous deeds ? 100 

V. 86. But see, my Muse.] Pindar now celebrates Melesias, the unctor. As some of the 
combatant's bkill may be attributed to his instructor, Pindar more than once immortalizes 
such persons : but he here begins with a sentence to prepare us. He praises Melesias to» 
' as a conqueror himself.' 

V. 92. By deeus.~] Being victor in the pancratium. 



15 

Or who the hero trains 

First of the listed plains 

Where Glory pours her ever-precibus beams 

His envied head around, 

Who on the sacred ground 105 

Rises to triumph ? In full thirty streams 

His tide of honour flows, the last prize won 

By great Alcimedon. 

• s. 4. 
That arm some fav'ring God with vigour strung, 

Enrapturing Valour by his side ; 1 10 

Shrinking from his triumphant stride 
Four youths their vanquish'd limbs, the croud among, 
Trail home inglorious ; hateful their return 
And dark the secret path they take ; 

Shame clouds their brow, their actions wake I 15 

No boastful tongue. Reviving fire shall burn, 
Defying age, within his grand-sire's heart : 
Who boasts such feats forgets, pale death, thy pointless dart! 

V. 107. His tide of honour. 1 The poet means that thirty prizes were gained by those 
whom Melesias had instructed. 

V. 117. Defying age.'] But why this mention of his grandfather? If his father were 
dead, or if, as Heyne ingeniously supposes, he died soon after the victory but before the com- 
posing of the ode, all is plain and proper. Pauw ought therefore to have assigned some 
reason, instead of calling the commentators fools for supposing the father to be dead. 

V. 118. My friend the Rev. H. Girdlestone has observed a nice gradation here ; " the 



16 



a. 4. 

Rise, Meraoiy, rise and with a grateful voice 

Call to his ancestors beneath, 120 

Hold forth the sweetly- verdant wreath 

Won by his hand. Bid all his tribe rejoice 

While the sixth branch entwines the hero's hair, 

Pluck'd from the shades which bow'ring round 

Wave o'er Olympia's sacred ground. 125 

Though wrap'd in darkness ev'n the dead may share 

The fragrance of due honours paid the sgn; 

Nor Death shall hide in dust the unfading wreaths.he won. 

e. 4. 
On nectar-dropping wing 

The glorious tidings bring, ISO 

Fame, ever-living daughter of the god 
Who guides the souls below ; 



report of these feats rouses the grandsire, who is half-dead with-age, but the remembrance of 
what he has performed makes the hero forget even death itself." 

V. 127. The fragrance ] Gray writes in a spirit not very unlike. 
" Ev'n from the tomb the voice of nature cries, 
Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires." Gr. 

V. 131 . Tame, ever Jiving:] As Mercury is the conductor of the souls to the lower regions, 
Fame is beautifully represented as his daughter. This being considered, Heyne's conjecture 
is unnecessary, that the father died soon after the victory. The words may naturally be un- 
derstood thus : Fame carries the tidings ; the father in the realms below is the first who 
hears, and proud of his son's honour, tells Callimachus, who is another relation. If 



77 

Proud let his father show 

The garlands, won by Jove's almighty nod, 

To great Callimachus, the wreaths that grace 135 

At once the sire and ail th' illustrious race. 

Upon the good stiil show'r 

All good, eternal Pow'r ! 

Shield them from Pestilence's poison'd dart, 

Turn off the blasting breath 140 

Belch 'd by the Fury, death 

To ev'ry blessing Fortune can impart. 

To them and theirs may life securely glide 

With still-increasing tide ! 



Heyne's conjecture were certain, Fame would be the daughter of Mercury only as herald of 
the victory, which the father hears, and, dying soon after, carries the news down to Calli- 
machus. This would be not much unlike Virgil's thought upon another occasion, but in 
grandeur would be far inferior. Virgil represents Pyrrhus, after having in Priam's sight 
killed his son, dragging the aged king from the altar. Priam sliddering in his son's gore ex- 
postulates and tells Pyrrhus, tha$ not even his father Achilles ever showed such cruelty. 
" Be thyself then the messenger to my father of my degenerate behaviour," says the barbarian. 
Virgil excites by this thought, pity for the aged monarch and indignant horror against the 
savage hand which we see lifted to plunge the sword. In Pindar's thought, as explained by 
Heyne, we should find nothing but what an Inferior poet might conceive, losing the beauty 
of the thought which exhibits Fame as the daughter of Mercury. The Greek scholar must 
pardon my use of the word " Fame," or substitute a better. 

V. 139. Shield.^ This serves to confirm the notion * that Death had been too busy in 
the family.* 



OLYMPIC ODE IX. 

IN PRAISE OF EPHARMOSTUS, OF OPUS, VICTOR IN WRESTLING. 

s. 1. 

h OR thee, my hero, Victory disdains 

To hear the thrice-repeated strains, 

While, as they pour the expected song, 

Her Champion steps the social choir among, 

Gliding along the steep Saturnian plains, 5 

Whose cliffs rebound the never- varied strains; 

Such Lays sufficed of old, but now, 

Muses of heav'n, string your far-shooting bow I 

Rise, glitt'ring shafts, our hero's praises bear, © 

Sound to the God, who rends the air 10 

With vivid fire, to Cronion's height 

By Lydian Pelops won take your resounding flight ! 

When the conqueror had not a particular hymn composed for him, it was the custom to 
sing an ancient hymn, originally made in praise of Hercules, but thus adapted to the celebra- 
tion of any victor. A part of this hymn, or, as some say, the whole was repeated thrice. 
The hero of the present ode had on a former occasion been content with this honour, too 
common to be highly prized. There is a difficulty in this ode from our ignorance of Opus, 
the person from whom the town took its name. Even the diligence and sagacity of Heynt 
?.re unequal to the task of setting this matter in a clear light. 



79 



A. 1 



Another sweetly-vocal dart prepare, 

And bid it vaulting through the air 

On glowing wing that scorns the ground, 15 

At Pytho hail great Epharmostus crown'd. 

To Opus loud the notes of triumph swell, 

Before whose champion vanquish'd rivals fell ; 

Justice and Law in all her streets, 

The state's blest guardians, take their sacred seats ; ?0 

O'er Alpheus and Castalia blooming breathe 

Her virtues ; thence the purple wreath 

Of flow'rs around her heroes glows, 

The Locrian groves rejoice and loftier wave their boughs. 

E. 1. 

Glory expands her golden wing 25 

O'er the lov'd city, while I sing ; 

Swift as the steed, that scours the plain, 

Or light- wing'd skiff glancing along the main, 

I spread the joyful tidings round. 

While I dress the Graces' ground, 30 

Fate, shine propitious ; from them flow 

All things that please below. 

V, 16. At Pytho.'] Pindar loves to make one victory the means of celebrating another. 



80 

Man, boast of nought, whate'er thou hast is giv'n, 
Wisdom and virtue are from heav'n. 

s. 2. 

How could thy club, Alcides, else withstand 35 

Th' all-dreaded Trident in the hand 

Of Neptune on the Pylian shore ? 

Or from the silver bow the shafts that pour. 



V. 33. Man, boast of nought.] Our pious poet here expresses his sentiments like the voice 
of inspiration; " what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" The Grecian bard shows 
more true ideas of religion than the Roman, who lived so much later, who says 

" Satis est orare Jovem quae donat et aufert, 

Det vitam, det opes. iEquum mi animum ipse parabo." 

" It is sufficient to pray to Jupiter for those things which are at his disposal to give or 
take away. Life he can give — riches he can give j as for evenness of mind, that I will pro- 
vide myself." 

It is of consequence to observe here and in other places the inferiority of Horace's reli- 
gious notions. The main column on which Deism is supported is the argument, that man 
wants not instruction from heaven. To give this position any force, we must allow time and 
opportunity for human reason to exert herself; otherwise the Deist must defend the notions 
of barbarians and savages. The knowledge then derived from reason must be progressive. 
The Romans therefore, being weil versed in the writings of the learned Greeks, must be sup- 
posed to have better, clearer, more exalted ideas of morality and religion : but we find the 
contrary is true in many instances. It is a surprizing thing, that from almost every kind of 
reading some arguments may be drawn to shew the folly of the Deist. Hence it appears of 
all wonders the greatest, that there can exist a Deist who does read. A late historian, who 
seems to have employed his pen purposely to throw his secret venom upon religion, is re- 
ported to have had Pindar almost by rote. How little of his ^spirit did he imbibe ! If a 
similaf observation has occurred in my notes, the importance of the matter is my excuse for 
the repetition. 

V. 35. How could.'] Pindar would here doubtless have us turn our thoughts upon his 
champion ; intimating that by the gifts of heaven he is able to oppose the greatest heroes. 



81 

Where his dread station warring Phoebus took ? 

His cold petrific wand grim Pluto shook, 40 

Which beckons man to endless sleep 

And seals his eyes in caverns drear and deep. 

But cease these thoughts, my soul, for impious-wise 

The hateful rashness that defies 

The Gods and dares their actions scan I 45 

Pride's boastful tongue bespeaks madness in mortal man* 

a. 2. 

From my chaste lyre ne'er rise th' unhallow'd song ! 

Fell war and battle ill belong 

To Gods : but rather in the praise 

Of Opus pour, my Muse, thy tuneful lays, 50 

There the restorers of mankind, their soul 

Struck by the thunder's deeply-varying roll, 

Still following down Parnassus' sides 

Where Jove's almighty will their footsteps guides, 

First fix their seat ; a wondrous race they raise 55 

From scatter'd stones, which claims my lays, 

My newest air : praise wine for years, 

But sweetest breathes the Muse when freshest flow'rs she wears. 



V. 52. Struck by.] Pindar would express, I conceive, by his elegantly compounded word 
the variation of sound in the same thunder clap. The story of Deucalion and Pyrrha, who 
restored mankind after the flood by throwing stones behind them, is well known. 

M 



82 

e. 2. 

(Long did the rolling billows bide 

The earth beneath their black'ning tide, 60 

Till by the pow'r of Jove the ground 

Op'ning absorb'd them in her womb profound.) 

From them and Saturn's seed divine 

The Opuntian heroes trac'd their line 

Whose brave arm held the brazen shield 65 

That fired the flick'ring field. 

Earth's genuine offspring o'er their native plain 

The monarchs held their ancient reign. 

s. 3. 
Thy bright-hair'd daughter, Opus, fired with love 

In ages past Olympian Jove. 70 

He seiz'd her charms and to the height 
Of cloud-capt Maenalus in secret flight 



V. 60. The word [XihAiPetv, which Pindar applies to the earth, is in the translation 
applied to water in a different sense. These frequent liberties which I have taken, to the 
very few profound scholars who are likely to honour this work with a perusal, may perhaps 
give frequent offence. 

V. 63. From them.'} The intermediate degrees of the genealogy, as they must have been 
traced through the clouds, I have not attempted to express. Pindar's intention was doubt- 
less to ennoble the race by deriving it from heaven. 

V. 69. Thy bright-hair'd.] Opus has been supposed to be the same as Deucalion, but I see 
not why. I find neither from the poet's own account nor from any one else who this 
Opus was. The daughter's name was Protogenia. 



S3 

From Elis wafted swift the blushing maid ; 

To Locrus then the pregnant nymph convey 'd, 

Who fears no more Time's blasting breath 75 

May bear him childless to the arms of Death. 

To crown his hopes the long-wish'd moment came, 

The child revives his grandsire's name. 

Hail godlike form, by virtue great ! 

Locrus to thee bequeaths his crown, his royal seat! 80 

A. 3. 
Thousands to share thy equal, wise command 
Assemble from each neighb'ring land, 
Argives and Thebans leave their home, 
Strangers from Pisa, from Arcadia come. 

Great Actor's son Mencetius high-revered 85 

Above each chief distinguish'd honour shared. 
From him the brave Patroclus sprung, 
To Mysia's plains the Grecian troops among 

V. 74. To Locrus. 1 King of the country. 

V. 78. The child,'] Being named Opus, and reigning afterwards in the city to which he 
gave his name. 

V. 88. To Mysia's.] The Greeks plundered Mysia as they went to oppose Troy ; Tele- 
phus, its king, drove all away except Achilles and Patroclus, which last warrior Achilles chose 
from that time for his friend. It is but lately I have seen Pye's translation ; he understands 
this account differently, but I still conceive Patroclus gave no instance of impatience but 
courage. Cm both in the tragic poets as well as in the great epic poet, with a genitive, is used 
often to express a brave warrior. In the Iliad I conceive Homer paints rather the strong friend- 
ship of Achilles than impatience in Patroclus, who was flushed with victory, and thus led on 
too far. Pindar says indeed, that from this specimen a man of understanding might judge of 



84 

He came. Beside Achilles sole he stood 

While back on ocean's troubled flood 90 

Trembling the Grecian hosts retire ; 

Astonied Telephus beholds his martial fire. 

e. 3. 

From that great day with ardent care 

Achilles, where his slaughtering spear 

Thinn'd the wide ranks, the warrior chose 95 

Still by his side to thunder on the foes.— 

New words the Muses would impart, 

And pour fresh ardour on my heart ; 

Fresh force to mount their golden car 

And chant those feats of war ; 100 

But now the Isthmian triumphs must I sound, 

One day a second hero crown'd, 



the force or courage of Patroclus's mind ; Achilles was a hero likely to value that warrior who 
alone dared stand by his side. I only mention a circumstance or two of this kind with the 
hope that my attempt to translate, after such elegant versions have already appeared of some 
parts of Pindar, may not seem an arrogance without a plea. 

V. 97. New ~doords.~] The poet means, the Muse would assist him to sing of ancient war- 
riors, did not his subject recall him from such a digression. Lampromachus was a relation 
of his hero's. It is of little importance to determine where these two heroes gained their 
prizes on the same day, it is better worth our while to observe whether Pindar, in describing 
Achilles and his friend Patroclus, and instantly turning to these two kindred heroes, both 
crowned the same day, would not have us make a comparison. The deep-read Grecian may 
despise these conjectures, but I humbly offer them to the consideration of all men of sense. 
Pindar now falls into an enumeration of different victories, which claims little regard from us, 
however interesting it may be supposed to have been at the time. 



85 



s. 4. 

Crown'd thee, Lampromachus ; with pow'rful charm 

My Muse thy social virtues warm ; 

And Corinth to the twofold praise 105 

Of Epharmostus calls my wand'ring lays, 

And Nemea bids me gladly hail his name. 

Midst her choice champions Argos heard his fame ; 

Above th' Athenian youths his soul 

Triumphant soar'd ; how did the silver bowl 110 

Attract at Marathon the hero's eyes 

From men to snatch the glorious prize 

His beardless rivals scorn'd ! How rings 

The circus ! What a form ! What skill his vigour wings ! 

a. 4. 
Behold ! at thy great feast, Almighty Sire, 115 

Arcadia's thronging hosts admire 
The Champion. O'er his manly breast 
Conspicuous flow'd Pellene's thick-wrought vest 
Which Boreas' breath defies. The tomb beside 

Of Iolaus, where thy blue waves glide, 120 

Eleusis, in full splendour shone 
The honours, our illustrious hero won. 
Genius is fired by Nature's ray divine : 
Who hopes by hapless toil to shine 



86 

Or grasp that fame, the Gods refuse, 1^5 

To him the best reward is silence from the Muse, 

e. 4. 
Fame's arduous summits pierce the skies, 
Breathless ascend the great and wise : 
But life still opens various ways 

"Where all may tread, secure of lowlier praise. 130 

But thee, my hero, while we crown, 
Thee, more than mortal born, we own. 
Thy look speaks valour, strength is thine 
And skill, each gift divine. 

Well worthy thou, champion of high renown 135 

The altar of the chief to crown ! 



V. 135. Well worthy .] To consecrate his crown to Ajax at his altar, as was the custom 
after a victory gained in the games sacred to Ajax ; where, among other places, the hero of 
the ode had distinguished himself. 



OLYMPIC ODE X. 

IN PRAISE OF AGESIDEMUS, A LOCRIAN, PUGILIST, SON OF 

ARCHESTRATUS, 



s. 1. 

JvAZ'D from the records of my heart 

Where is the promis'd hymn ? Again impart 

Your aid and wake the sweetly-swelling lays 

To speak the hero's praise, 

Nor let oblivion more 5 

Draw her obscuring veil his merits o'er ; 

Daughter of Jove, celestial Truth, descend, 

And thou, sweet Muse, avert with righteous hand 

The base dishonour, which your Bard would brand 

False to his host and friend. IG 



The design. There seem to be two circumstances which the poet constantly keeps in 
mind throughout the whole of this ode. One, the promise of an hymn long before made 
but not till now performed ; the other, that the champion at the first onset was in danger. 
Pindar therefore seems to choose his example of Hercules, to show that it is not the first 
blow but the event which is of grand importance. Thus again he represents Hercules, after 
being completely victorious, instituting games on purpose to crown persevering fortitude with 
glory. Thus the poet himself, though at first he had been deficient toward his friend, yet at 
last repays him with interest, i. e. with an ode which will eternize his name and glory. 



88 



A. 1 

Full long, ere first the hymn I vow'd, 

Hath time with never-ceasing current flow'd. 

Where is my vow ? Ashamed it shrinks from sight 

Deep-sunk in slumb'rous night. 

But interest shall repay 15 

The debt twice o'er, and the melodious lay 

O'er ev'ry harsh reproof that rolls beneath 

Shall pour its copious billows full and clear. 

Hero, thy praise charming the public ear 

My friendly lyre shall breathe. 20 

E. 1. 

For Truth at Locri takes her sacred seat. 

There the Muse is honour'd, there 

Arm'd in brass Mars shakes the spear, 

And conquest beams on ev'ry shield 

Though oft late-rising. From the field 25 

Force drive Alcides ; twice the warriors meet 

And Cycnus falls. Great champion, thou thy friend 

Grateful revere, who cheer'd thee on 

Till glorious victory was won. 

V. 25. Ike? oft ] I thought it necessary to add a few words to show the connection more 
clearly. Pindar means that it was no disparagement to his hero's courage that he was at first 
likely to be beaten. He therefore tells him to be thankful to Has the unctor, who encouraged 
him till he was victorious, as Achilles did Patroclus. For Augeas and Cycnus see Index. 



S9 

Thus knew Achilles to impart 30 

Ardour that warm'd Patroclus' heart. 

Heroes by heroes fired Glory's high peak ascend 

s. 2. 
Aided by heav'n ; her golden light 
Few share till prov'd by toil, then shines she bright 

Through life : such contest shall my lyre resound ; 3b 

Where tomb'd on Elean ground 
The ancient Pelops lies, 

These contests Jove surveys ; that glorious prize 
To sing Olympia's sacred hour demands ; 

Alcides then proclaim'd it, when he rose 40 

In matchless force triumphant and his foes 
Crush'd under his dread hands. 

a. 2. 

Great Eurytus in previous fight 

Cteatus hapless fell beneath his might, 

That Augeas his full storm of ire might rue 45 

And forced restore his due. 

V. 36„ Where tomb'd.] See Olympic Ode I . 

V. 39. To sing.] It was now the full time of the first Olympiad, the games of which were 
sacred to Jupiter. Pindar always delights to speak of Hercules ; here he introduces that hero 
first b^way of comparison, and when he has described him successful in his laborious enter- 
pttte, he informs us he immediately after instituted these games. Whence I understand his 
meaning to be, that not even Hercules could arrive at honour without toil, that accordingly 
after an enterprize of great labour he instituted these trials of strength and fortitude, of toil 
and peril. Thus this digression, as it first seems, appears a singular beauty. 

N 



90 

Careless they took their way 

Cleonae near ; the ambush'd hero lay 

Deep-shrouded in a brake, and fierce he sprung 

To vengeance for his slain Tirynthian host 50 

All by these vaunting foes cut off, all lost 

Th' Elean vales among, 

e. 2. 
Ere long strange trembling seiz'd the faithless king.* 
Fierce the storm of vengeance roar'd, 

Raging flame and furious sword 55 

The wealth of all his state devour ; 
Havock and desolation pour 
Their sweeping torrents ; heav'n and earth all ring 
With the dire crash ; Destruction's gulph beneath 

Down, down he sees his city sink. 60 

Against such fury vain to think 
Of arms ! Rash monarch to engage 
In fierce hostility that rage 
Which meet thou must, that arm, whose ev'ry stroke is death ! 

s. 3. 
His conqu'ring army Jove's brave son 65 

With all the mighty spoils their valour won 

* Augeas. 



91 

To Pisa calls and marks an ample ground 

With deep entrenchment round 

Sacred to sov'reign Jove, 

Soon to be shaded with thick*branching grove. ^ 

Within he consecrates an open space 

And far apart forgets not to assign 

Large room for jovial feast, and rites divine 

Thy stream, O Alpheus, grace. 

A. 3. 

To the twelve Gods six altars rise* 75 

The lofty Cronian peak, which strikes the skies, 

Now gains an everlasting name, no more 

Neglected as before 

His wild and ragged brows 

For ever moistened with continual snows* 80 

The Fates from heav'n their sacred influence shed 

On this great feast ; and Time, by whom alone 

All truths are seal'd, bows from his ancient throne 

His rev'rend, hoary head ; 



V. 70. Soon to be.] This circumstance is here inserted to present the whole in a clearer 
light before the English reader. See Olympic Ode III. — Hercules planted the grove after- 
wards, as there described. 

V. 75. To the.'] See Olymp. V. s. 1. 

V. 84. His rev'rend, hoary.] Time has since Pindar's clays constantly been adding to the 
beauty of this passage, since Grecian chronology has been ever regulated by the Olympiads. 



92 



e. 3. 

The ancient records of this sacred game 85 

(While far his airy course he steers 

Along th' expanse of rolling years) 

Of this great quinquennial rite 

Issuing from the spoils of fight 

Deep-mark'd he bears on lasting scrolls of fame ; 90 

And each first victor that the world may know, 

High he displays the Olympic crown, 

Each splendid trophy of renown, 

Whether the foot-race gives the prize, 

Or polish'd car that rapid flies, 95 

Or the fierce lightning of the hand plucks honour from the foe, 

s. 4. 
First in the race CEonus won 
Of brave Licymnius the warlike son ; 
Ardent the way from M idea's walls he trod 

And hosts obey'd his nod. 100 

His strong opponent thrown 
Great Echemus to Tegea bore the crown. 
Lo, brave Dory cl us fierce in conflict glows, 
A valiant champion from Tirynthian land. 

With the resistless whirlwind of his hand 105 

Dealing terrific blows. 



95 

a. 4. 
Mantinean Semus o'er the plains 
Whirl'd by his airy-footed coursers gains 
The song of triumph. Phrastor's well-aim'd spear 

Like lightning cleaves the air. 110 

Admiring thousands stand 
To see Eniceus hurling from his hand 
The pond'rous stone, far beyond all it flies ; 
Applauding thunders shake the air — and soon 

Her lovely face uplifts the silver moon J 15 

Lighting the evening skies. 

e. 4. 
Loud through the spacious cirque glad hymns resound. 
The Choir their jovial voices raise 
Re-echoing ev'ry hero's praise ; 

And sweet as theirs our strains shall flow ISO 

That proud the Victor's wreathed brow 
Shall catch fresh gleams of joy and his heart bound 
With glory, while the loud triumphal lays 
Rise to the monarch, at whose hand 

Ready the quick-eyed lightnings stand 125 

To pour their streams of vengeful fire 

V. 117. Spacious cirque.] There were no woods yet. 

V. 120. And sweet.} The poet now returns to the praise of his friend Agesidemus, the 
hero of the ode, 



94 

With stunning roar of thunders dire. 

Responsive to the pipe, that swells the notes of praise 

s. 5. 
O'er Dirce's far-fam'd stream my song 

Sweet to my friend, though late, shall roll along ^ 130 

Sweet as to Age if late his consort bear 
An unexpected heir ; 
Desponding now no more 
He feels Love's rapt'ring ardour, which of yore 

Fired his fond youth, rekindle all his breast 135 

Rous'dfrom Time's chilling damps ; his former fear 
Blind Chance some alien might appoint his heir. 
No more disturbs his rest. 

a. 5. 
Far to the yawning vault of Death 
In vain the champion pants ; if no kind breath 1^0 

V. 131. Sweet as.} Without the poet'* praise, Pindar tells his hero his toil was in vain, 
for his name would perish ; he would be like an aged father without offspring : but the bard's 
song shall immortalize his memory. It comes long indeed after it was originally promised, it 
is therefore like a late-born heir, which seems to restore the father to youth, with the hope 
that his name shall live ; to such youth as his friend enjoyed long ago. The ode ends with a 
thought most exquisite. Milton, I think, comes nearest. 

. Able to drive 

All sadness but despair.— 

Her graceful innocence — 

bereaved 

His fierceness of the fierce intent it brought. 

P. L. 9. 461. 



95 

Shall waft his glorious deeds the world around, 

Forgotten to the ground 

His hard-earn'd honours fall. 

But thine, my friend, shall live ; for thee shall all 

The sweetest notes of reed and string conspire ; 145 

The Muses, that enchant the list'ning skies, 

Daughters of Jove from golden thrones arise 

And strike the living lyre. 

E. 5. 
With their sweet choir I pour my fervent lays ; 

Warm with a poet's zeal, the race 150 

Of all thy Locrians I embrace, 
And o'er their walls, whence heroes spring, 
Waving my bright, ambrosial wing 
Shed the sweet dew of never-dying praise# 

Son of Archestratus, my vow is paid, 155 

Vow'd when Olympiad altar near 
I saw thy earlier dawn appear : 
Such strength, such form, such grace, such arms I 
Not on that youth more pow'rful charms 
Fair Venus show Yd, whose bloom drove off pale Death dismay 'd. 

V. 159. Not on that youth.} Ganymede, 



OLYMPIC ODE XL 

TO THE SAME AGESIDEMUS. 

s. 

X ULL sweetly breathe the heav'nly gales, 

Man from their flying pinions health inhales ; 

Unbosom'd from the cloud, that gives them birth^ 

Soft fall the show'rs on earth ; 

When worth demands the Muse 5 

Still softer breathe ambrosial dews 

A sweeter fragrance o'er the victor's name 

Stampt with the hallow'd seal of everlasting fame. 

a. 
Th' unenvied treasure of her lays 

The Muse prepares, the sacred boon of praise; 10 

Her poet's tongue, feeding the champion's fire 
Speaks to the trembling lyre. 



This victory was gained in boxing. It is always difficult to translate after West. Here 
he expresses himself in the spirit of the original, and even improves upon his author. Pindar 
with peculiar boldness calls the showers, daughters of the cloud. West, with equal boldness 
and singular elegance, calls them pearly daughters. 



97 



But if no ray divine 

Deign on the human soul to shine, 

Valour stands chill'd, no flow'rs of genius blow. 15 

Son of Archestratus, to thee my strains shall flow. 

E. 

Glitt'ring like gold the olive twined 

In lovely wreath around thy brow we bind. 

With me, ye Muses, lead your sacred train 

Light-stepping o'er the Locrian plain. 20 

The Locrians are a race 

Brave, hospitable, good and wise, 

Deep-skilPd in ev'ry art, we prize, 

Your heav'nly presence ne'er will they disgrace, 

'Twas nature form'd their soul ; 25 

Nought can her sov'reign pow'r controul : 

The roaring lion's rage, the fox's art 

Ne'er fail since from the iirst she stamp'd them on the heart. 



V. 17. GlitPring.] Pindar calls not only the olive but the laurel " golden." It can not 
be said that in all places he can mean to distinguish the worth of the prize by this epithet, 
for he applies the same where it was worn without such an idea. See Pyth. X. «. 3 f 
where he describes men who lived in ease, and feast and song, binding their hair with the 
golden laurel. 

V. 20. Light-stepping.] The triumphal procession. 



OLYMPIC ODE XII. 

TO ERGOTELES, OF HIMERA, VICTOR IN THE RACE. 



DAUGHTER of Jove, who bids the placid brow 
Of Freedom smile her land to cheer ; 
Guardian of kingdoms, Fortune, hear my vow. 
Shield mighty Himera with tby fondest care ! 
Thy hand the rapid vessel steers, 
Curbs raging Battle on the plain ; 
Thy smile the rev'rend council cheers. 
Thy frown the wisdom of the wise makes vain. 



The original expresses a title of Jupiter, alluding to his freeing Greece from the Persian 
invasion. It is the fashion of the day to admire Horace and neglect Pindar. Silver was once, 
I have read, more valued than gold. Every school-boy can talk of the beauties of Horace's 
ode addressing Fortune, who protected Antium ; but the grand beauty of making Fortune the 
daughter of Jupiter is in that imitation lost. By this noble allegory Pindar attributes nothing 
to blind chance. Fortune is in his representation rather what wc term providence. The 
piety is in this ode equal to the sublimity. The hero had been forced from his country by a 
faction to take refuge at Himera, where he was afterwards greatly honoured. Hence the 
poet's address to Fortune. He has the art to console his hero with the reflection, that what 
he had once considered as his great misfortune, proved quite the reverse, as he would proba- 
bly, had he continued in his own land, not have been so much celebrated for his swiftness 
of foot. 



99 



All human hopes are frail, now up, now down, 
For ever rolling and for ever, no event their own. 



10 



A. 

To whom of mortals was it ever giv'n 

With faithful, clear, unerring eye 

To read the dark, half-letter'd scrolls of heav'n, 

And secret Fate's deep mysteries descry ? 

Nor joy nor grief to come we know : 15 

Blindness blasts the daring soul 

Which scans to-morrow ; joy in woe 

Soon sinks when unexpected tempests roll ; 

Again when waves are bursting o'er our head 

Oft are the storms dispers'd and sunshine round us spread. 20 

Driv'n by mad Faction's blasts, hadst thou ne'er fled, 
Hero, thy native Crete, what were thy fame, thy boast ? 
Fall'n like a shrivel'd flow'r ! thyself inglorious lost 
In broils obscure amid thy country's dead ! 

V. 24. In broils obscure.] At home in civil broils. Similar and greater liberties than West 
mentioned with regard to the fox and the lion in the last ode, ought, in my opinion, often to be 
taken in a translation of this poet. Pindar's comparison (of his hero falling at home like a 
cock) can not, I think, be made to shine in a translation. West, to ennoble the comparison, 
calls the cock " the crested bird of Mars." It is an ingenious conception, but the very 
effect of the poet's image seems to be thus reversed. Pindar purposely inverted his telescope 
that it might exhibit an image little and humble. West, with a wish of improving, magni- 
fies and dignifies. Pindar would exhibit a man falling at home ignobly. West thinks the 



100 

Now in their baths the nymphs shall hail thy name §5 

And loftier rise thy Himera's swelling fame. 
Enjoy the peace this fost'ring land bestows, 
Corinth, Olympia, Pytho crown thy brows, 

image, in a translation at least, would be too low. 1 choose rather to omit the comparison 
than, by brightening the features, to alter and lose the character. 

V. 25. Nozo in their."] There were baths, sacred to the nymphs, near the city. I hope the 
learned will not deem the liberty too great of supposing the nymphs to be in their baths 
listning to the hero's fame. In the original mention is made of two Pythian victories. Omis- 
sions of this kind abound in the translation, and for this reason, because an exact version 
would not have been in Pindar's manner. He was exact in enumerating victories because he 
knew it would please ; were he to translate his own odes now he would omit such like things 
Jest he should disgust. 



OLYMPIC ODE XIII. 

TO XENOPHON, OF CORINTH, VICTOR IN THE RACE AND THE 
FIVE GAMES, OR PENTATHLON** 

s. i. 

Id EAR, thrice-victorious house, your poet's lays, 

Whose gentle virtues all revere, 

Whose table welcome strangers share; 

With yours the Muse joins happy Corinth's praise, 

Like Neptune's vestibule behold her stand 5 

Pouring abroad on either side 

Her martial youth where foams his tide, 

Indignant bursting 'gainst th' intruding land % 

There Justice takes her seat 

Founder of states ; there social meet 10 

Her golden sisters, righteous Law and Peace, 

From whose wise counsels floods of wealth still flowing still increase. 



Pindar begins with an address to his hero and his whole family, and adds the praises of 
his country. The father had gained one victory, the son two, 
* See Index, 



102 



A. 1. 



Their voice proclaims through all her sober streets 

u Far hence be Luxury, far hence 

" Mad Riot, bold-tongued Insolence, 15 

" Repletion's brood VI — Illustrious are the feats 

I sing ; my tongue shall boldly pour the lay. 

If, Nature, thou the soul inspire, 

Nought can suppress the genuine fire. 

The flow' ring seasons, as they glide, display 20 

Full many a noble art 

"Which dignifies the human heart ; 

Full many virtues, that on Victory's wing 

To you fair Corinth's sons the crown of glory bring ; 

e. 1. 
Lo ! from Aletes' stem fresh flow'rs 25 

Blooming ye rise. — Invention's pow'rs 
Unrival'd glory gain. 
To whom does Bacchus but to you 



V. 28. To xvhom does.'] The caution given by the Roman biographer, " not to judge of 
the customs of other countries by our own," is never more useful than to a modern reader of 
Pindar. The man who first trained a horse was once thought worthy of as high honour as 
he now is who, for the invention of a machine, gains a medal. Though perhaps no art is truly 
honourable but what is useful, yet some arts are universally honoured of which the imme- 
diate use does not appear : we must not then grudge the honours attributed by Pindar to those 
who had distinguished themselves in arts of any kind. 



103 

The vying graces of his light dance owe ? 

Who first the matchless rein 30 

Applied, the haughty steed to curb ? 

Who seated on the fane superb 

The tyrant-bird of air ? 

With you the sweet- voiced Muse resides, 

Mars fires your youth, with horrid strides 35 

Waving his blood-stain'd spear. 

s. 2. 
Jove 9 mighty ruler of th' Olympic prize, 
No glance of envy, heav'nly sire, 
E'er blast the efforts of my lyre, 

Which breathes the praise of Corinth t From the skies 40 

Bid Fortune still her shelt'ring wing extend 
The land around. Securely guide 
Our hero o'er the dang'rous tide 

Of rolling years. Great king, from heavVs throne bend 
To hear in lyric strain 45 

His name twice glorious on the plain ! 
Never so great a day did Pisa see, 
Blending such distant sprigs of twofold victory. 



V. 29. The vying.'] For an ox was the prize to the best dancer, says the scholiast. 
V. 33. The tyrant-bird.] The pinnacles resembling the spread wings of an eagle, or rather 
the real images of eagles exquisitely wrought. 

Y. 48. Blending such.] He was victorious in the Pentathlon, and also in the race, West 



104 



a. 2. 

The Isthmian wreath twice smiles around his brows. 

Nemea resounds the hero's name 50 

Triumphant. Airy-footed Fame 

All-eager spreads, where echoing Alpheus flows, 

His father's glory, swift as to the goal 

Himself he sprang. The wreaths, he won 

In either Pythian coarse, one sun, 55 

Ere his fire-flashing wheels had ceas'd to roll, 

Beheld with ling' ring ray : 

One varying Moon, ere ceas'd to play 

Her beams o'er Attica, look'd smiling down 

When Vict'ry's light-wing'd Day had dropt a threefold crown. 60 

e. 2. 
Full sev'n times did the Hellotian Game 
Witness his force and speak his fame. 
Beside the Isthmian shore > 

has observed that the same person was not likely to excel in both, as the Pentathlon and the 
race required very different powers of body. 

V. 49. The Isthmian] A more exact translation of such passages as these would please 
those only who want no translation at all. These have caused by tar the most trouble, though 
after all they are perhaps the worst translated. I have indeed on this very account frequently 
been upon the point ot doing what the reader, I fear, heartily wishes I had done, i. e. of 
giving up the whole work in despair. 

V. 55. In either Pythian,'} Two separate courses, of which oae was called the double 
ctufse. 



105 

Where Neptune, rising from the tide, 

His own rites views, his waves on either side 65 

Calming their furious roar, 

Triumphant with his mighty sire 

He claims the full force of my lyre. 

The various palms they bore 

From Pytho, Nemea, who can tell ? 70 

Who speak their various worth ? As well 

Count pebbles on the shore. 

s. 3. 

Discretion's steady hand must rule the lyre : 

She, as occasion ever veers 

With wanton gale, still wisely steers ; 75 

Fraught with a private theme she bids aspire 

My swelling sail to mightier Corinth's praise. 

Truth by my side, her far-fam'd race 

In war, in council bids me trace 

And the loud strain to her great heroes raise ; SO 

To Sisyphus, whose heart 

Was fraught with heav'n-descended art, 



V. 76. Fraught with a.~\ The poet here explains his own method, which he at all times 
pursues, of launching out from the private praise of his hero into that of his country, or his 
country's heroes ; whom being about to celebrate, he begins with Sisyphus, the founder of 
the city, and ends with Bellerophon, 

P 



105 

A God in wisdom ; to the maid, who sav'd 

The Argo, when for love the threatening deep she bravVL 

A, 3. 

Renown'd for wisdom these^ those great in arms 85 

Held on Troy's war-worn tow'rs the shield, 

While others trod th' ensanguin'd field 

And furious 'gainst her walls hurl'd dire alarms ; 

Heroes, alike conspicuous shone your sires 

Who march'd the Grecian chiefs beside, 90 

And who the far-sought queen denied. 

Before proud Glaucus trembling Greece retires. 

Full haughty is his boast 

Oi many a dread Corinthian host 

Obedient to Bellerophon's command, 95 

Where sprung Pirene's fount, pow'rful and great the land ; 

e. S. 

There long defied the winged horse 

Of wondrous birth his grand-sire's force 

Beside the gushing stream, 

Till in Minerva's hand behold 100 

T. 83. To the maid.] Medea, who fled to Corinth. Wisdom is here Pindar's first praise, 
ralour the second. 

F. 89. Heroes, alike conspicuous.] Those who fought for the Greekt and for the Trojans. 
P. 95. Obedient to.] Bellerophon was his grandfather. 
V% 96* Where sprung,"} Piiene, a Corinthian fountain. 



107 

The reins and glitt'ring curb of burnish'd gold ; 

No light, delusive dream ! 

Quick- vanishing his slumber breaks 

And clear truth in the vision speaks ; 

" Sleep'st thou, jEolian king? 105 

" A well-fed bull slain to thy sire, 

" Present beside the sacred fire 

" The magic gift I bring." 

s. 4» 
These accents from the sable-shielded maid 

Arous'd him, slumb'ring as he lay ; 110 

Up-starting on his feet, away 
Hasting, the gift, that by his side was laid, 
He grasps with awe-struck hand, and to the seei 
The honour'd native of the land 

Joyful presents ; " by thy command 1 15 

" Oracular, Minerva's altar near 
" With rev'rence I repos'd 
" When night her sable curtain clos'd 
" O'er the still earth, and sleep's softpow'r I sought; 
" Op'ning my eyes beheld the dazzling gold she brought 120 

V. 105. Sleep'st thou.^ His birth was from JEolus, and he was a king's son, though 
not a king. 

V. 108. TheMagic gift.] Neptune was his father, though Sisyphus was commonly so called. 

V. 114. The honour'd.] Polyidus. — Pindar is speaking of what had previously happened,, 
telling the story, as is usual in poetry, not according to the exact order of events. 



108 



a. 4. 

" Which tames the heart." His call the seer attends, 

And first a stately-stepping steer 

He bids him for the God prepare, 

The billow-beaten cliffs whose trident rends, 

And raise an altar (her divine command 125 

Compleated) to th' equestrian maid. 

The arm which heav'n vouchsafes to aid, 

Nor hope, nor force, nor firmest oaths withstand. 

He feels the hard task light 

To check or steer his rapid flight ; ISO 

For now the golden curb with art applied 

The foaming courser champs ; enchanted sinks his pride. 

e. 4. 
The brass-clad warrior's arras resound 
While dreadful o'er the thund'ring ground 

In martial joust he wheels ; ,135 

From the cold deserts of the air 
The quiver'd Amazons his flashing spear 
Strikes dead ; Chimaera feels 
His pow'rful hand and, all her fires 



V. 125. Her divine command.'} The vision just before described, 
V. J 26. To tk> equestrian maid.] Minerva. 



109 

In fruitless hissings quench'd, expires ; 140 

The Solymi lie slain. 

His death in silence veil'd I leave ; 

The steed Jove's ancient stalls receive 

Far o'er the heav'nly plain. 

.s. 5. 

Here check, my lyre, thy ever- varying string ; 145 

Thy sweet-toned darts of magic pow'r 

Rolling their full harmonious show'r 

No more beyond the mark promiscuous fling. 

Did not the Muse from her bright throne descend 

And all the numerous wreaths, that grace 150 

The hero's tribe, illustrious race, 

At Nemea won and Corinth bid me blend ? 

Stand, white-rob'd Truth, and hear 

The short but faithful oath I swear ; 

" Loud did the sweet-tongued herald-trumpet raise 155 

" Full sixty times their names to never-dying praise." 



V. 142. His death."] This Pindar thinks a circumstance ill-suited to the present occasion. 
His lyric Muse never loves to dwell on any thing tragical in the event. The manner of his 
death too was not honourable to the hero. See Index. 

V. 150. And all the numerous wreaths.'] He now celebrates Xenophon's whole tribe of the 
Oligsethidse. It would render these odes in the translation more intelligible, if English 
poetry would admit the names as they occur in the original, * 



110 



a. 5. 

Thrice has Oly mpia heard the same glad strains. 

Fresh palms the watchful Muse foresees ; 

Hope lists the far-off-rising breeze 

And thinks she hears shouts from triumphal plains^ 160 

Trusting in heav'n. Should their aspiring soul 

For fresh wreaths pant, let Jove decide 

And Mars. Full oft o'er the fali'n pride 

Of those, they vanquish'd, lowVd the clouds, that roll 

Parnassus' brows around ; 165 

Argos and Thebes the victors own'd 

And thou Arcadia ; grateful to the skies 

Thy queen of altars oft has pour'd their sacrifice. 

e. 5. 
Glory on golden wing and Fame 
Through various countries waft their name ; 170 

V, 157. Thrice.'] Pindar's ode begins with mentioning three Olympic victories. 

V. 163. Full oft.] Pindar, according to his custom, cursorily mentions other victories of 
the family gained, some near Parnassus, i. e. Pythian victories; others at Argos, Thebes, and 
Arcadia; which were less honourable, as being gained in games of less celebrity. Again in 
the epode others are enumerated. 

V. 168. Thy queen.~] On the occasion offerings were made on an Arcadian altar, sacred to 
Jupiter Lycseus, wherefore it seems to be termed queen, as being most excellent. In the 
original it is king. 

V. 170. Various countries.'] Pellene, Sicyon, Megara, and Euboea, are mentioned in the 
original. One reason of the great honours paid to Pindar might be his constant care to cele- 



Ill 

iEgina's groves resound ; 

O'er Marathon's wide fertile plains 

It flies triumphant ; ^Etna's heights it gains, 

Who sees his foot around 

Extended cities rich and great; 175 

In ev'ry town, in ev'ry street 

All Greece the heroes hails. 

Thus, Jove, thus ever o'er the tide 

Of joy and honour may they glide 

And Fortune swell their sails ! 180 



brate not only the particular hero, but so many others, and so many cities and countries. 
This, however uninteresting it may be to us, not only gave pleasure to the various persons 
praised, but often to the champion himself, who thus saw himself distinguished in a whole 
tribe of heroes, whose glories, by being reflected, are blended with his own and increase the 
splendour. There was also this farther advantage, that the glory of the hero being shared 
with so many others, and yet not eclipsed, was the less envied. So that Pindar's art, with 
the nicest observation of truth and propriety, threw the brightest possible beams of glory 
around his hero, and even turned the eyes of thousands upon him with unabated delight. 



OLYMPIC ODE XIV. 

TO ASOPICHUS, OF ORCHOMENUS, VICTOR IN THE RACE. 

ft. 1. 

I LLUSTRIOUS Queens, celestial Graces, hear 5 

Sacred to whom Cephisus flows, 

To whom the Minyae their vows 

Address^ sweet guardians of their land 

Famed for the steed, whose mild command 5 

Orchomenus obeys ; attend my pray'r. 

From you mankind receives whate'er is sweety 

\V hate'er is pleasant to the eyes. 

Is any honour'd ? any wise ? 

Is any great ? The gift is yours. 10 

Without you not th' immortal pow'rs 

In lively dance or banquet ever meet, 

Your wise disposal rules all things above ; 

Where Pythian Phoebus holds his golden bow 

Ye fix your sacred throne, whence ever flow 15 

Hymns to Almighty Jove. 

V. 6. Orchomenus was sacred to the Graces* 

V. 15. Yejix.~\ In the Delphic temple their statues were placed at the right hand of 
Apollo's. 



213 



s. 2. 



Revered Aglaia, to my strain attend, 

Thalia hear, to whom belong 

The varying melodies of song, 

And thou, Euphrosyne, of Jove %® 

Sweet daughters, who for ever love 

Harmonious o'er the golden lyre to bend, 

On this glad choir let fall a fav'ring glance ! 

In Lydian measure lightly flows 

The hymn ; Asophichus his brows 25 

Binds with fresh garlands from your hand, 

A glory to his native land. 

Aloud, my voice, breathe to the bounding dance; 

Hear, Echo, hear the sweetly-vocal string, 

And in Death's gloomy-vaulted realms profound SO 

Tell the glad sire his son's young brows are crown'd 

With glory's purple wing. 

V. 29. Hear, Echo.] For Echo and Cephisus see Index, 



PYTHIAN ODE I 



TO HIERO, OF JETNA, KING OF SYRACUSE, VICTOR IN THE 

CHARIOT-RACE. 



s. 1. 
JlIAIL, golden lyre, thou gift divine! 



Apollo strikes thy ever-tuneful strings, 



In contemplating this inimitable ode we are for a time struck dumb with admiration. 
The poet begins with an address to his lyre in strains no where else to be found in heathen 
poetry. Every line is harmonious, every word expressive, every thought truly great and 
sublime. In embellishing the praises of his hero he introduces the boldest scenes of nature. 
The most dreadful picture, which the earth presents, his Muse exhibits in characters as ad- 
mirable for singular boldness as they are exactly just and true ; and as if Nature began to fail 
in fresh images of grandeur, his goddess at last has recourse to fable. In her highest flight, if 
you can feel cool enough to reflect, you begin to fear she has lost sight of her subject; at 
once she returns, and a connection most artfully contrived appears. You now admire the 
dexterity with which, having descended from her flight, she drives her golden car over the 
plain. The ode is as beautiful for its general design as its execution. The poet begins with 
the praise of music, which, he says, charms all nature. His hero therefore is happy to deserve 
the praise of the Muses. He had lately founded the city of JEtna ; the poet therefore hopes 
and prays that this city mgy produce a race of heroes who may merit the like honours. The 
power of the Muse's charms being so great is a wonderful encouragement to his hero to con- 
tinue to deserve her favour, which, the poet adds, will outlive the voice of Flattery, and will 
attend him even to his tomb. Such appears the general design of this ode, which may per- 
haps be termed the sublimest and most beautiful left us by Greek or Roman poet. 



*v 



115 

Soft-bending o'er thee stand the raptured nine, 

Their hair like breathing violets. Lightly springs 

Th' elastic dance ; the glancing feet 

Wake into joy. The choir their voice prepare 

Answ'ring the sign, thy prelude sweet, 

To roll the full tide thro' the trembling air. 

Quench'd by thy pow'rs, enchanting lyre, 

The forked lightning's ever-streaming fire W 

Dies. On Jove's sceptre charmed sits the king 

Of birds, each rapid wing 

a i. 

Loos'ning ; while thick clouds hov'ring round 

Involve the hooked terrors of his head, 

And gently closing in sweet trance are bound 15 

His eye-lids ; soft a slumb'rous dew is shed 

On ev'ry plume; his back up-heaves 

Extatic, while each sweetly-piercing dart 

Thrills through his frame. Ev'n stern Mars leaves 

His spear reclin'd, soft joys dissolve his heart. 20 

V. 4. Their hair.'} It is not easy to state with certainty the full reasons of some epithets 
among the poets. From the hyacinth as well as the violet they have borrowed a metaphor to 
adorn their descriptions of the hair. The beautiful gloss as well as the colour, dark or per- 
haps golden, may be supposed to make a part of the picture,. But may not the perfume like- 
wise be intended ? " Divinum vertice odorem spiravere." Virg. — When Milton's angel shook 
his plumes we know the effect that greatest of poets describes. 

V. 13. Loos'ning.'] Pindar's words here are so astonishingly the echo of the sense, that 
you actually see the wings loosening and again the back heaving. 



t 



116 

O'er all heav'n's sons entranced around 
(While from the god of wisdom breathes the sound 
And the deep-bosom'd Muses' tuneful train) 
Thy pow'rs triumphant reign. 

E. 1. 

But those accursed souls, whom Joye 25 

In wrath estranges from his love, 

Soon as the heav'nly Muse they hear, 

Astounded petrify with fear 

By land or o'er the raging deep. 

Such in caverns drear and steep 30 

Of Tartarus the monster lies, 

Typhon's dread bulk, who braved the skies ; 

Nurs'd in the famed Cilician cave 

He rose; now whelm'd near the Cumean wave 

Lies his huge, rugged giant-breast, 35 

Beneath the weight of all Sicilia prest, 

With iEtna, whose tremendous brows 

Lifted to heav'n scowl through eternal snows. 

V. 25. But thou] The thought that what delights the rest of nature should on the 
wicked souls have an effect so contrary, is truly worthy of Pindar. Thus Milton — 

•• The more I see 

Pleasures about me, so much more I feel 
Torment within me. 

■ All good to me becomes 

Bane, and in heav'n much worse had been my lot." 



117 ft' 

s. 2. 
Forth from whose deep-mouth'd caves are hurfd 

Bright streams of ever-unapproached fire. 40 

All day thick clouds of billowy smoke are whirPd 
In burning eddies round the summit dire 
Of this huge mount, that props the sky ; 
Red flames by night their spouting cataracts pour 

And rocks disgorging forth on high, 45 

Into the glaring sea dash witli harsh roar. 
Thundering such floods the monster sends 
Of fire tempestuous, that with horror rends 
The welkin ; far-off sailors shudd'ring hear 
And view aghast with fear ; 50 

a. %. 
Beneath such pond'rous mass of ground, 
^Etna's huge heights, frowning with forests black? 

V. 40. Bright streams.] The beauty or rather grandeur of Pindar's word is not in English 
to be expressed by any other than that which Milton has chosen. 
" And never but in unapproached light 
Dwelt from eternity." 
Your tongue is made to utter as slowly as steps your foot, when you make the attempt, 
but dare not approach near. 

V. 52. With forests black.] See Par. Lost, b. 1. v. 612. 

— " As when heav'n's fire 

Hath scathed the forest oaks, or mountain pines ; 
With singed top their stately growth, tho' bare, 
Stands on the blasted heath." 
Whether Milton had or had not Pindar's description in his mind, the blackness, I con- 
ceive, Pindar intends to be the effect of ^Etna's eruption r 



m us 

His hundred heads, his limbs immense lie bound ; 

The deep-sunk bed of flint griding his back* 

Grant, ever grant, almighty Jove, &> 

Who guard'st thine iEtna with outstretched hand, 

We never lose thy fost'ring love ! 

From iEtna, the fair front of this rich land, 

The new-rais'd city claims its name. 

When Pytho's triumph ask'd the trump of Fame, 60 

Ttt the same blast which hail'd the Victor crown'd 

She bade that name resound, 

e. 2. 
As, when a fresh breeze fav'ring springs 
And swift the new-launch 'd vessel wings 

Glad from the port, Hope takes the sign, 65 

Far o'er the clouds the hand divine 
Outstretch'd she views the bark to save 

Back-wafted o'er the placid wave ; 

w 

So now the voice of Victory flows 

Omen of wreaths, to crown the brows 70 

Of many an hero; many a steed 
And rattling car ; of many a glorious deed ; 
c * 

V. 61. In the same."] Hiero was proclaimed victor by a new title, " Hiero of^tna," 
from his lately-built town of that name. This proclamation of victory at the first Pindar 
ingeniousiy represents as an omen of future good, like a favouring gale at the first sailing of 
a vessel. 






IIS 



* 



m 



Of feast and glad triumphal song. 

Phoebus, to whom Parnassus' heights belong, 

Hear from thy lov'd Castalia's dews, 75 

Grant iEtna victories that shall claim the Muse, 



m 



♦ 



s. 3. 
A race of heroes ! For each art, 
The tongue all-eloquent, the vig'rous hand, 
Grave wisdom, all that dignifies the heart 
Is thine, weak mortal, but at heav'n's command. 80 

Strike then, my hand, to Hiero's praise, 
Thy sounding dart high o'er each rival's fling ; 
Strain ev'ry nerve, thy full force raise ; 
Beyond the mark no force can urge its wing. 

Time still untired in copious show'r Sh 

From wide-spread pinions never-ceasing pour 
Riches and health around him, toil and pain 
With all their hideous train 

a. 3. 
Deep-whelm beneath Oblivion's wave ; 

The toils of war, which patient he endured, 90 

In everlasting monument engrave ; 
Battles which to th' illustrious three procured 

V. 92. Battles which.'] Whence Hiero and his two brothers were settled in honourable 
peace, after many disputes about the government were ended. 



4 

2 20 

From heav'n a throne ; Greece can not boast 

Superior honours: o'er tlr admiring plain 

The valiant warrior led his host ; 95 

You'd say, great Philoctetes liv'd again, 

To whom compell'd his haughty foe 

With fawning speeches sued and humbler brow; 

"Whose destin'd aid the heroes to explore 

Sail'd from a distant shore; 100 

♦ 

e. 3. 

In torment from the rankling wound 

The far-fam'd archer soon they found 

And bore him by the Fates' command 

A dreaded foe to Priam's land r 

His arm though weak alone could save 105 

The hosts of Greece ; he only gave 

Rest to their toil. So by thy side, 

Great Hiero, may some heav'nly guide 

O'er all th' expanse of rolling years 

Still lead thy steps and crown with joy thy cares ! 1 10 

V. 94. The valiant] Being ill and carried in a litter, Hiero is here compared to Philoctetes, 
to bring whom Ulysses and Neoptolemus were sent, since without his arrows Troy could 
not have been taken. As Philoctetes was by divine power cured of his lameness, Pindar 
prays that a similar power may be extended to Hiero to cure him of his disease. 

V. 96. To whom compelled.] The best interpretation of this difficult passage appears to be 
that Ulysses is the haughty foe who sued to Philoctetes, to entice him to return with him to 
Troy. The English reader is referred to Potter's translation of the pleasing play of Philoctetes 
from the Greek of Sophocles. 



121 

Now rise, my Muse, on golden wing 
To the glad son the father's laurels sing, 
And soon thy tuneful voice prepare 
To hail that son iEtna's imperial heir ! 



s. 4. 



* 



For him those walls his royal sire [ 15 

On the firm base of Sparta's righteous laws 

His future empire founds. Heroic fire 

There ever burns for Freedom's holy cause. 

From great Alcides' stem derives 

This colony her birth. In days of yore 120 

The laws which ruled their rigid lives 

In Sparta's land, full glad they now restore. 

Sparta, to thee from Pindus came 

Their fathers; far-illustrious was their name ; 

Not brighter, Tyndarus, thy sons' renown 125 

Shone o'er a sister- town. 



V. 112. To the glad.} Deinomenes, for whom his father Hiero built the new town 
of JEtm. 

V. 116. On the firm.'] The inhabitants were many of them Dorians and other strangers j 
many of them from Peloponnesus : they were therefore to be governed by the laws of Sparta. 
It is impossible to make such passages as these shine in English poetry, which are indeed 
better suited to the antiquarian than the poet. 

V. 126. Shone o'er.'} Castor and Pollux retired to Argos, near Lacedcemon. 



122 



a. 4. 



Grant to the kings and all their host 

Who drink of Amena, almighty Jove, 

That truth may sanction still their ancient boast, 

And their just lives the far-fam'd laws may prove ISO 

No fabled claim. Oh stretch thy hand, 

Guide he his son in wisdom, thou the sire, 

In peace to harmonize the land 

Aw'd by his age ! Ye warring hosts retire 

The Punic and the Tyrrhene shore 135 

Resounding with sad notes, while ye deplore 

Your shatter'd fleets, your thousands slain, whose blood 

Dyed the Cumean flood ! 

e. 4. 
The chief his Syracusian fleets 

Led swift to vengeance. Fierce he meets 140 

The terrours of each brazen prow ; 
Dash'd in the flood, that whirls below, 
Their youth he leaves and with the voice 
Of Freedom bids his Greece rejoice. 

V. 135. The Tunic and.'] This alludes to a late invasion of Carthagenians and Tuscans. 
At the same time happened the invasion of Greece by the Persians. 
V. 139. The chief.] Hiero. 



123 

Lo! Salamis would tempt my eyes 145 

With Athens' favour as a prize, 

Would tempt my Muse to tune her lays 

To Athens' victory to Athens' praise ; 

By Sparta's arms I burn to tell 

How near Citheron Media's archers fell ; 150 

But first the hymn to those I owe 

Who scourg'd at Himera the trembling foe. 

* 

s. 5. 
When fair occasion wakes the strain. 
Though copious be the theme, which swells the lays, 

If modest banks the swelling flood contain, 155 

Envy herself may listen to the praise : 
But when the notes unceasing flow 
The soul quick-glances with disgust away ; 
Lo, dazzling shrinks the jealous brow, 
The heart in secret pines at Glory's ray : 160 



V. 145. Lo! Salamis.} To describe the battle of Salamis, in which the Athenians distin- 
guished themselves so highly. It must require great resolution in Pindar to refrain from the 
animated description which he thirsted to give of the patriotism of Greece, gloriously trium- 
phant over the ambition of Persia. 

V. 151. But first the.'] Hiero and his brothers gained a victory there. 

V. 156. Envy herself.'] Pindar had in the beginning of the ode said so much of the Muse's 
power, that he now thinks it proper to add a caution, lest her encomium too long continued 
should excite envy. He therefore advises his hero to be firm in pursuing a right course, such 
as may ensure solid glory. This, although not so profuse as flattery, is yet more lasting and 
more to be desired. 



124 

Yet, prince, be glory still thy care ! 

Better men's envy than their pity share. 

Still may Truth's anvil form thy tongue, the helm 

Of Justice steer thy realm ! 

a. 5. 
Too well men's searching eyes behold 165 

Amid the splendour of thy radiant crown 
Each trivial speck that stains the purer gold. 
Thee sole disposer num'rous subjects own. 
Surrounding witnesses attend 

The royal sire and son. Still calm proceed, 170 

From Fame eternal sweets ascend 
And scent the breezes which thy vessel speed : 
To great and gen'rous acts expand 
Thy sail, and scatter wealth with bounteous hand ; 

To the gilt dross of Flatt'ry's specious art 175 

Yield not thy captive heart. 



e. 5. 



The lips of Eloquence, the Muse 
On Glory show'r their sweetest dews : 



V. 175. To ike gilt.'] Hiero was, it seems, too fond of encouraging buffoons and flatterers, 
whose praise Pindar styles a trifling gain and low. He therefore advises him to seek real Fame 
by actions truly liberal ; such Fame, he tells him, will survive the tomb. The passage is 
however understood otherwise. See West. 



125 

Soft o'er the tomb their praises flow 

And follow to the realms below ; 180 

Distinguished from th' ignoble dead 

List'ning Virtue lifts her head. 

On ev'ry tuneful tongue the fame 

Of bounteous Croesus dwells ; the name 

Of Phalaris still shocks the ear, 185 

His flaming victims and his monster drear ; 

That name the youth disdain to sing, 

Mute ev'ry lyre. Virtue's first meed, great king, 

Is fortune ; fame the next ; who gains 

At once each crown, supremely blest he reigns. 190 



V. 179. Soft o'er.'l I understand this to be an allusion to the funeral orations. 

V. 189. Is fortune.'] As Virtue is best celebrated by the Muses, it was with singular pro- 
priety that Pindar at the beginning spoke so highly of their power. Reader, it is well worth 
thy while to reflect again and again upon the design of this ode ; the more it is considered, 
the more will it be admired. 



PYTHIAN ODE IL 

IN PRAISE LIKEWISE OF HIERO, VICTOR IN THE CHARIOT-RACE. 

S. 1. 

JljLAIL Syracusaj ample seat 

Where diverse castled cities meet ! 

Hail fane of Mars ! whose dreadful sway 

Warriors and neighing steeds obey, 

Train'd by thy care, stern Nurse, to arms \ 5 

Their breasts the clang of armour warms ; 

To thee from splendid Thebes along 

I pour the deep, melodious song, 

Proclaiming triumph to the king 

Who urg'd his steeds t' arrest the rapid wing 10 

Of Vict'ry, while his wheels the ground 

Made quake. He bears the wreath his temples bound 

Far-beaming to Ortygia's fane, 

Whose goddess steer'd with aiding hand the rein. 

V. I. Hail.'] Syracusa consisted of four cities united. It is but lately I have seen th« 
odes translated by Pye. I here probably incur his censure, but am at a loss how to give the 
English reader any idea at all of Pindar without such expansion of his words. 

V. 13. Par-beaming.] In Ortygia, in Sicily, where he kept his steeds, was a temple of 
Diana, who with her nymphs loved to bathe in the river. The poet introduces several deities, 



127 



a. 1. 



Quicks she glides along the meads 15 

From her lov'd stream, to deck his steeds ; 

The trappings dazzling to the eyes 

In both hands lifting she applies. 

While in his glitt'ring car he reins 

The steeds, which pant for distant plains, 20 

Hermes, ere yet the swift wheels glide, 

The God of contests, stands beside, 

And cheers him rushing to the course, 

That god invok'd, whose mace first rais'd the horse. 

While many a bard enraptured sings %& 

The hymn, their various virtues claim, to kings ; 

(For still the grateful voice succeeds 

By sweet remembrance wak'd to gen'rous deeds) 

E. 1. 

To Cinyras while Cyprians raise, 

Fair Venus' priest, their songs of praise, 30 

Whom golden-hair'd Apollo loves ; 

To thee, as mid the choir she moves 

to whose aid he represents his hero indebted for his victory. To heaven therefore, it is inti- 
mated, his hero very properly shows his gratitude by bearing his triumphal wreaths to the 
fane. Pindar afterwards describes the ill effects of ingratitude. 

V. 25. While many.'] While others sing the praises of their respective kings, the Locrian 
maid sings thee, Hiero, for delivering her from a late siege. This is the debt of gratitude. 



128 

In dance light-stepping o'er the plain, 

The Locrian virgin bids the strain 

To thee, lov'd Hiero, sweetly flow; 35 

Security smiles on her brow : 

Aw'd by thy word no longer low'r 

War's threat'ning storms ; thy guardian pow'r 

Grateful she hails. Th' ungrateful soul 

Ixion still rebukes, while tortured roll 40 

His limbs ; repeating still the lay, 

" Remember, man, each kindness to repay. 57 

s. 2. 

This did he learn from vengeful heav'n. 

To him among the blest was was giv'n 

To feast his soft, ambrosial hours. 45 

Vain mortal ! Soon the full-blown flow'rs 

Of joy must fade. With frantic love 

He sought the queen of thund'ring Jove, 



V. 36. Security smiles.] The best reading appears to be J^pctKZHr' ctiOcthzt, i. e. as Heyne 
explains it, " looking security, showing security in her looks." It is no small confirmation 
of this reading and this sense of the expression, that this is the very word used by the tragic 
poet in his seven chiefs against Thebes, v. 53. teovrcov »$ ctpnu J'i^opKOTCov, which Potter 
admirably in Shakespeare's language translates, not without something of Milton's added, 
" as the lion, when he glares determined battle." But, alas ! I can not with equal strength 
express Pindar's thought. 

" The lion glared on me." Julius Caesar. 

" Breathing deliberate valour." Milton. 



\ c 29 

Presumptuous ! in his mortal arms 

Hoping to clasp celestial charms 50 

Due to the raptures of heav'n's king. 

Such insolence soon rous'd the rapid wing 

Of vengeance. Heav'n a punishment 

All horrid as his own black vices sent. 

His was the first, th' atrocious stain, 55 

His host allied by dire devices slain ; 

A. 2. 

His too th' attempt with impious love 

To seize th' illustrious queen of Jove 

In her divine retreat. The man 

Who proud beyond his narrow span ? 60 

His lowly state, with fierce desires 

And swelling arrogance aspires, 

Falls in quick ruin. Empty charms 

Imag'd in cloud his am'rous arms 

Delude : Full-sweet the vision smiPd 65 

A seeming Juno and the wretch beguiPd. 

O'er-weening mortal I Such the snare 

Of splendid ruin which Jove's hands prepare : 

In adamantine fetters bound 

Stretch'd on the wheel he whirls in endless round ; 70 



V. 56. His host allied.~\ Deioneus, whose daughter he married, 
s 



130 



e. 2. 



There writhe his limbs ; nor time, nor force 

Checks the dire engine's rapid course, 

Destruction which himself he wrought. 

Still by his warning voice are taught 

Thousands who shudd'ring hear. The cloud 75 

Produc'd the Centaur fierce and proud 

Lonely, detested, graceless foe 

Of Gods above and men below, 

Lo ! hence a wondrous race appears 

O'er Pelion from Magnesian mares. 80 

These monsters of tremendous force 

(Above the Centaur and below the horse 

Resembling) lead their hideous train 

Wide o'er Thessalia's astonish'd plain. 

s. 3. 
The pow'r of Jove unbounded flies 85 

Swift o'er the earth, o'ei seas, o'er skies, 
Outstrips the rapid eagle's wing, 
The dolphins that like lightning spring 



V. 76. Produced the Centaur.] The English reader must carefully distinguish between the 
Centaur Chiron, son of Saturn, and this other being, called also a Centaur, the unnatural 
offspring of impious lust. 



131 

Through the cleft waves. The haughty soul 

Feels his deep-whelming thunders roll ; 90 

The meek he bids, (serene the skies,) 

To ever-blooming honours rise. 

Cease, Muse austere, and change the strain, 

The wretch, who feasting still on others' pain 

With gall of malice gluts his heart, 95 

Unfriended, poor, from social joys apart 

I saw and shunn'd ; but with the wise 

'Tis best on Fortune's fav'ring wing to rise. 

A. 3. 
And Fortune, Prince, is amply thine, 

Her golden splendours round thee shine* 100 

Lord of many a castled town 
And many a host. A twofold crown, 
Glory and wealth united shed 
Full-beaming lustre on thy head, 



P. 89. The haughty souW\ " Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos." V. 

V. 93. Cease, Muse.'] Pindar loves not to dwell too long on crimes and their punishments, 
but rather attends those whose virtues deserve praise. He instances in Archilochus, who 
seemed to exist, " the world despising by the world despis'd j" but as he lived long before, 
Heyne concludes the words " far off," relate to time. I rather believe the poet describes 
some one, whom he had himself seen, under th% fictitious name of Archilochus. I therefore 
take zx,a,{ za>v to signify " standing aloof," as it does in this sentence, iK&s a ix,ct$ ere 
bgb tfto/. Thus there is a clear opposition. Pindar shuns the man, who by his malevolence 
brought himself into universal contempt and poverty ;- but loves to commend the wise and 
good, and with him rise into fortune and eminence. 



132 

Brighter than Greece through all her coasts 105 

From earliest ages ever boasts. 

But when I seize th' impatient lyre 

To sound thy youthful deeds and martial fire, 

Smooth glides my bark ; from many a flow'r 

Rich zephyrs breathe their sweets ; with all my pow'r 1 10 

I stretch my ev'ry sail ; thy praise 

Demands the fullest gale that Fame can raise. 

e. 3. 

The ranks of foot, th' embattled horse 

Thy valour saw, thy youth, thy force: 

But when around thy rev'rend head 115 

Maturer years their honours spread, 

Thy wisdom shines with steady rays ; 

Dauntless I wake the voice of praise 

Secure of blame. Lov'd monarch, hail ! 

Far o'er the hoary sea my sail l$Q 

This choicest texture of the Muse 

Shall waft rich-dyed with Tyrian hues. 

Thou, while in sweet iEolian notes 

Loud o'er the sev'n-string'd lyre the full strain floats, 

Look fav'ring on my hymn, and scorn 125 

Flatt'ry's feign'd speech : thy Bard shall ever warn 



133 



s. 4. 

To shun her wiles, The odious shape, 

Base counterfeit of man, the ape 

Pleases but children. He, (whose heart 

Disdain'd vile Slander's odious art J 39 

Watching the weakness of mankind . 

Basely to taint th' unguarded mind) 

The richest fruit of wisdom found 

With joys unen vied justly crown'd. 

With fox-like art the whisperer preys 5 135 

The slander'd and the list'ning ear betrays ; 

And what's the gain ? His baited hook 

And fine-drawn tackle sink beneath the brook 3 

I buoyant o'er the surface play 

And glorying feel the sun's all-cheering ray. 140 



V. 128. The ape.'] Pindar's words are obscure, but I understand him to compare the 
flatterer to an ape, assuming a form not his own. It is the heart which distinguishes the 
man from the ape, the friend from the flatterer. The excellence of the comparison in this 
sense makes me conceive this to be Pindar's meaning, and he would, I hope, pardon me him- 
self for giving such an interpretation, rather than following others in their learned researches, 
which after all leave us by no means satisfied. 

V. 129. He, zvhose heart.] Rhadamanthus. 

V. 137. His baited hook.'] The learned will pardon the little alteration here made in the 
allusion, which was rather to a net. It has been conjectured that a shipwreck suggested the 
metaphor. But when it is considered the Sicilians were famous for fishing, we shall admire 
the poet's art in alluding to that employment. 



134 



a. 4«, 

Bat nought the good and wise among 

Avails base Falsehood's glozing tongue. 

Though fawning Flattery tries her wiles 

All hearts to win ; alike she smiles 

On all. I loathe her shameless art ; 245 

My friend I clasp with open heart 

And boldly I pursue my foe : 

Frowns he ? I frown with fiercer brow* 

Or flees he swift ? With swifter pace 

Like the gaunt wolf his winding paths I trace. 150 

Whether the sceptre rules the land, 

Or the wise Senate with sedate command, 

Or people fierce, in each are blest 

The tongue direct of truth, the righteous breast* 

e. 4. 

But arrogant that voice and vain 155 

Which dares the will of heav'n arraign, 

Whose ever- wise decrees dispose 

With various lot to these or those 

His honours ; dazzling to the sight 

Of Envy shines their lustre bright. 160 



135 

O'erswayM upon herself rebounds 

Her heavy-hilted sword and wounds 

With poison'd point her heart. Whatever 

TV ungen'rous burden, still I bear 

With patient steps its weight; in vain 165 

Resistance, struggling but augments the pain. 

Ye envious, sland'ring tongues, farewell ! 

Still with the fav'ringgood I wish to dwell. 



V. 161. O'ersway'd from.'] Here again I may incur the censure of the deeply-read 
Greek scholar. 

V. 164. TV ungen'rous.'] The burden here complained of seems to be that imposed on 
him by the envious. If we were better acquainted with the minute events at Hiero's court, 
I conceive we should discover very great beauties in this ode, which now we can only imagine 
by conjecture. We have been told the king attended to buffoons. It appears to me that 
some favourite had attempted, by viie insinuations, to excite suspicions and disgust in the 
prince's mind, and to raise his hatred against others, and Pindar in particular. If so there is 
great beauty in the story of Ixion, who is perhaps the image of the favourite courtier detected 
and despised. Princes can punish with severity equal to the fondness with which they favour. 
I conceive then that Pindar, by the image of Ixion, pointed to some well-known Sejanus or 
Wolsey of his time. It has been said that Bacchylides, the poet, was the person. 



PYTHIAN ODE III. 

TO HIERO, VICTOR IN THE RACE OF SINGLE HORSES. 

s. 1. 

OH would indulgent Fate allow 

(And thousands as I pour the common vow, 

Unite with mine their breath) 

That Philyra's sceptred hero ? sprung from heav'n. 

There is not perhaps any thing in which the peculiarity of Pindar's art is more conspi- 
cuous than in his embellishment of some particular circumstances relating either to the per- 
sons to whom he addressed his odes, or the place where they lived. He certainly was fond of 
introducing fable and antiquated history ; but in many of his odes the main thoughts were 
founded on some particular circumstance. Nay he has often the art so to adapt even the 
adventitious materials, that when you take a fair and proper view of the whole, they seem 
not only an ornamental but even useful part of the structure. Hiero was afflicted with sick- 
ness when this ode was addressed to him. The poet therefore very properly begins with a 
wish that Chiron were again alive, who trained the great physician JEsculapius, whose birth 
he goes on to describe. 

V. 4. That Philyra- 's.] Chiron, sen of Fhityra and Saturn, who turned himself into an 
horse, whence was produced the Centaur. The perusal of these ancient poets is thought by 
some moderns useless. Nothing is useless which leads the mind into proper reflections. Can 
any one read the poetry of this astonishing genius and not observe his want of information in 
matters of religion ? That such poetry should be employed to exhibit such theology ! Should 
a man of Pindar's genius at this time write an ode, exhibiting the deity in the same light as 
this does, would not the author be hooted from society, even if he produced his composition 
among the exiles in Eotany Bay ? Yet Pindar was admired by the most polished nations of 
the heathen world j almost idolized in Greece, and imitated by a poet ot the most exquisite 
taste in Rome. Whence but from Christianity has been this change ? Not from time alone, 
for at this very day there may be found nations who would he;\r the like representations of 
the Deity without horror. Can the Deist then avoid conviction ? 



137 

Again to bless our earth were giv'n 5 

From the cold realms of death ! 

That Chiron's presence yet again 

Might cheer his happy Pelian plain I 

Uncouth his form and strange ; his mind 

Ever breathed benevolence, 10 

Ever friendly to mankind. 

Health and safety to dispense 

He train'd the hero by whose healing hand 

Fresh vigour nerv'd all limbs, diseases fled the land. 

A. 1. 

Coronis, ere her destined hour 15 

Call'd for Lucina's life-producing pow'r, 

By stern Apollo's art 

Untimely to grim Pluto's realm was thrown 

From her lov'd bridal chamber down, 

Pierc'd by Diana's dart. 20 

Tremendous is the kindling ire 

Which blazes into ruinous fire 

From heav'nly bosoms. Error turn'd 

To folly her inconstant mind, 

For with a recent flame she burn'd, 25 

Her glorious privilege resign'd, 

V. 13. He trained the hero,"] ^Esculapius, of whose birth the poet now gives an account. 
V. 15. Coronis,] Mother of ^Esculapius. 

T 



138 

Apollo now she slights, her sire deceives, 

And pregnant by the god his glowing arms she leaves* 

E. 1* 

No social mirth her fickle breast 

Can cheer : the bridal feast SO 

The hymeneal hymn, whose jovial voice 

Bids the fair virgin-choir rejoice 

At eve, while melting strains of love 

Their tender bosoms move 

To heave responsive sighs of soft desire^ 35 

She not awaits. A distant fire 

Consuming with ignoble smart 

Attracts her wand'ring heart. 

Thus erring mortals judge ! Their longing eyes 

The absent good for ever prize, 40 

Searching for joys beyond their reach 

In vain their arms they stretch, 

And while with fruitless hope their bosoms burn 

From taste of present good fastidiously they turn, 

s. 2. 
Such was the fate Coronis found, 45 

Whose purple flounces proudly swept the ground* 
From Arcady there came 
A favour'd youth ; to him she gave her charms, 



139 

But lo ! infolded in his arms 

She covers not her shame. 50 

Before the god's far-seeing eye 

Th' unhallow'd deeds all-open lie. 

Where from his Pythian altar roll 

Clouds o'er the redd'ning fiery gleams, 

In consult with his mighty soul 55 

Omniscience pours its radiant beams, 

Pervades all space ; falsehood in deed or thought 

Of God or man dissolv'd before it fades to nought, 

a. 2. 
Stern he beheld with impious art 

The stranger lure Coronis' wanton heart ? QQ 

Blushing with shame and ire 
Diana his chaste sister quick he sent 
The full force of his rage to vent 
And blast with ruin dire. 

The virgin dwells the lake beside ^5 

Bcebeis, on whose ruffled tide 
Ossa's vast shadow rolls. To shame 
Her evil daemon lured her soul 
And fell destruction. Fierce as flame 
The pest's increasing horrors roll 7q 

V. 58. Before it fades.-] Ithuriel's spear (P. L. 4, 810,) seems an imitation of this. 
V. 60 and 48. The stranger,] Ischys. 



140 

O'er thousands ; like one fatal flash they spread 

Which, widening still, devours the woods that clothe the mountain's head. 

e. 2. 
Her weeping friends prepare the pyre 
And light the funeral fire. 

Apollo, when he sees the smoke arise, 71 

With one quick step darts from the skies 
Through the cleft pyre with rapid force 
And from the lifeless corse 
Seizes his child, inspiring vital breath j 

66 Thy innocence her guilty death 80 

" Shall never undistinguish'd share 
" Without a father's tear 
" Dropt o'er the fatal flame ; thy mother's woe 
" Apollo's son shall never know." 

The child he wafted as he spoke 86 

To Chiron's cave ; he took 
The sacred charge, his opening mind to train 
Skilful to chase from man disease and ghastly pain. 

s. 3. 
Expecting myriads throng around 
Or vex'd with grievous malady or wound ; 90 

V, 71. O'er thousands.'] By this figure Pindar expresses the series of evils which often 
arise from one wicked action. Her punishment was a pestilential disorder, which involved 
many of her neighbours in the same destruction. 



141 

The horrid gash they show 

From cleaving sword or smiting axe or spear, 

Whose sharp point lightens through the air, 

Or rough stone's stunning blow ; 

Here wild, solstitial Fever burns, 95 

Here livid Ague shiv'ring turns 

His winter- wasted visage pale 

Imploring aid ; each various woe 

Yields to his hand ; his pow'rs ne'er fail 5 

To some sweet strains of magic flow, 100 

One tastes the cup, one with soft hand he binds, 

One trembling from harsh steel returning vigour finds. 

a. 3. 
But lo ! ev'n Wisdom's sable brow, 
When radiant gems with tempting lustre glow, 

Relaxes; gold had charms 105 

Which urg'd him to restore the parted breath 
And wrest a struggling soul, whom death 
Grip'd in his horrid arms. 
The indignant father of the skies 

Thunders, the bolt of vengeance flies. 110 

Transfix'd their breasts, they both to ground 
Fall black'ning with the blastings dire 

V, 111. They both.'} wEsculapius and Hippolytus, whom he restored to life. 



142 

Which struck from Jove's own hands the wound 

In furious storms of streaming fire. 

Man, tempt not heav'n, weigh well thyself nor soar, 115 

Reptile of earth, to heights 'twere impious to explore ! 

e. S. 

Glow not, my soul, with vain desire 

To feed an unquench'd fire 

In the frail lamp of mortal life; thy pow'r 

Use, where thou canst, thy stinted hour, 120 

Oh that the sage yet dwelt below ! 

My sweetest strains should flow, 

Soft through his cave the magic numbers roll 

Till half-entranc'd his melting soul 

Yield ; till his powerful art he lend ; 125 

Till some great son he send 

Of Phcebus or of Jove, who knows to save 

From burning pest the good and brave ; 

Swift should my gladden'd vessel glide 

Cleaving the Ionian tide ISO 

To greet the isle, where flows thy silver spring 

Sweet Arethuse and hail my friend the iEtnean king. 

V. 121. Ok that the.'] How exquisitely has the poet introduced this thought! Though 
his wish seems almost bordering upon impiety, almost in danger of incurring the resentment 
of Jupiter, yet he seems unable to refrain from indulging it. 

V. 123. His cave.'] Chiron, who lived in a cave. 

V. 131. To greet the isle."] Sicily, where Hiero lived. 



143 

s. 4. 

Soft as the dew his kindness flows 

O'er his lov'd Syracuse ; no envy knows 

His breast ; with fondest care 135 

He smiles a father o'er his happy land ; 

His love the good, his shelt'ring hand 

Admiring strangers share. 

There could I breathe his temples round 

Health's fresh'ning gale, and bid rebound 140 

Triumphal from the golden lyre 

With inextinguishable ray 

Bright Glory, whose far-beaming fire 

Should on his proud steeds' chaplets play 

At Cirrha won ; from ocean should I rise 145 

Bright as a star in heav'n before his wond'ring eyes* 

• a. 4. 



Fond wish ! Then Rhea fav'ring hear ! 
Thee, while the virgin-train by night revere 



V. 143. Bright Glory .] Pindar frequently taking a metaphor from one of the senses, ap° 
plies it to another. See Burke on the Sublime and Beautiful. I have sometimes taken the 
same liberty. 

V. 147. Fond wish.'] Pindar first wishes to sail to Syracuse, with health and good news 
of victory ; as that is not in his power, he at least offers his vows at home : at last he endea- 
vours to console his hero by moral reflections. This ode is inimitably beautiful throughout, 
nor is its nice connection its least beauty. That his hero's cure was to be effected by heaven 
alone, he insinuates by showing that the gods save or destroy as they please. Apollo destroyed 



144 

Thy power, with lifted hands 

I call, while loud to Pan their hymns resound. 150 

My door beholds the sacred ground 

Where thy lov'd temple stands. 

But thou, my Hiero ! hear and prize 

The lofty precepts of the wise, 

This truth, which ancient ages show ; 155 

" The cup of mortal life in heav'n 

" Is mix'd, small joy with double woe." 

Fools, when they take the portion giv'n, 

Repine ; the good still turn their eye, resigned. 

To scenes that brightest shine, the dark they cast behind. 160 

e. 4. 
Nor is all good to thee denied 
From Fortune's varying tide ; 
If Fate on mortal ever deign'd to shine 
His fullest splendours still are thine ; 



Coronis, and saved ./Esculapius, out of the fire. When man presumed too far, trying to recall 
a soul from death, Jove himself interfered, asserting to himself the sole disposal of life 
and death. 

V. 152. Where.'} Rhea's temple stood near Pindar's abode. She used to be celebrated in 
the night by Theban virgins, in hymns addressed to herself and to Pan, at the same time. 

V. 163. If Fate. ~\ Pindar speaks of Fate as ruling all things, even the fortunes of men. 
Indeed whoever believes in Providence must acknowledge there is no such thing as blind 
Chance. Upon the whole Pindar's sentiments of religion appear to me superior to the other 
Heathen poets, Greek or Latin. In attributing all events to Providence he equals Homer, but 
avoids Homer's error of representing the gods engaged in battles, or if his Muse begin such an 



145 

On Majesty's far-beaming crown 165 

He looks auspicious down 

Yet not with cloudless skies. Time never flow'd 

In one unceasing stream of good, 

When o'er each blest-lov'd hero's head 

Fortune her pinions spread 170 

And blessings shower'd. Each heard the Muses' choir 

With gold-bound tresses strike the lyre ; 

Peleus, when up the mountain-side 

He led his far-famed bride 

Wise Nereus' daughter ; Cadmus in his arms 175 

When first at Thebes he clasp'd his lov'd Harmonia's charms. 

s. 5. 

To either hero was it giv'n 

To feast great Saturn's sons, the gods of heav'n. 

Blest were their mortal eyes, 

The kings divine seated on thrones of gold 180 

With awe and wonder they behold 



account he at once checks her. Fables indeed degrading to the gods, Pindar, as well as other 
Heathen poets, relates, but when he can, he endeavours, in some respect, to give these fables 
a better turn. In his description of the next life, short as it is, he seems to surpass Homer, 
who makes his great hero in the regions below express a wish of returning, if possible, to 
earth ; and if Virgil's longer account of the regions of the dead equal Pindar's more concise 
description, yet in the deification of men he, as well as Horace and Statius, falls far below 
Pindar. 

U 



146 

Dispensing, ere they rise, 

Rich bridal gifts. Rais'd by the hand 

Of Jove, with hearts elate they stand 

While on past labours far below, 1 83 

Scatter'd by Fortune's sportive gale 

Wide o'er the deep, with calmer brow 

They smile. But soon the joy must fail ! 

How did thy daughters, Cadmus, vex thy soul ! 

Ah fatal charms, o'er which Jove's fires too fiercely roll ! 190 

a. 5. 

But the great son, whom Thetis bore, 

Slain by the dart on Troy's destructive shore, 

Though not of mortal blood, 

Thy evening, Peleus, damp'd with clouds of woe. 

See, round the pyre from thousands flow 193 

Tears in a copious flood. 

Well would it be for human kind 

Would they but learn with humble mind 

The sacred paths of truth to tread, 

Whatever fate the Gods prepare, 200 

Whatever storms burst o'er their head 

Driv'n by the veering blast to bear, 



P. 190. Ah fatal charms.'} Serr.ele. See the Index, 
V. 191. But the great.'] Achilles. 



147 

Nor dream of bliss transcending mortal pow'r : 

Joy smiles with transient gleam the sunshine of an hour, 

E» Om 

Should Fortune bid her cheering ray 205 

In copious radiance play 

And rear my full-blown honours to the skies, 

High as the highest would I rise ; 

Bat if she cast her cloud around 

I humbly walk the ground. 210 

My guardian god I follow and obey 

With willing soul his gentle sway; 

The gold lie show'rs as seed I sow 

Whence Glory's flow'rs shall blow. 

'Tis thus Sarpedon's thus wise Nestor's name 215 

Lives in the golden trump of Fame, 

While glowing Bards the breath inspire 

That wakes the holy fire 

Of Rapture's high immortalizing strains. 

Blest are the few whose worth th' illustrious glory gains. 



PYTHIAN ODE IV. 

TO ARCESILAUS, KING OF CYRENE, VICTOR IN THE 

CHARIOT-RACE. 



S. 1. 

HeAV'NLY Muse, this festal day 

Calls thee from Helicon away 

Before ray royal friend to stand. 

Lead the glad choir with fav'ring hand ! 

Breathe on the Bard thy sacred fire ! 

To Pytho's praises wake the sounding lyre. 

The Priestess there, who sate Jove's birds beside, 

Which spread their golden pinions wide 



In this ode, which has as much of the epic in its manner as the lyric, the poet leaves 
no one at a loss to comprehend his design, which simply was to compliment his hero with an 
account how Battus, a progenitor, had settled in Cyrene ; which having been effected by pro- 
phecy, Pindar traces the matter up as far as the Argonautic expedition, of which he is thence 
led to give an account. 

V. 3. Before my royal friend.] Arcesilaus. 

V. 7. The Priestess there."] Two golden images. Poets, unlike historians, love to relate 
things not beginning at once in order of time. This could not have been connected so well if 
Pindar had not mentioned the prophecy of the Priestess immediately after speaking of Pytho. 
In order of time this event is after the other. During the expedition of the Argonauts an 
event had happened, whence Medea had foretold what was accomplished by Battus, who was 
urged to it by the Pythian priestess. 



149 

Within Apollo's fane, her mortal eyes 

Illumined by the god, prophetick cries ; 10 

" Battus shall rest on Libya's beach his oar 

" Leaving his ancestor's all-honour'd shore, 

" Rais'd by his hand Cyrene's tow'rs shall rise 

" On cliffs, whose chalky bosom swells high-gleaming to the skies.'* 

A. 1 

These were the destined tow'rs of old 15 

By the fam'd Colchian Queen foretold. 

Deep-imaged in her pregnant soul 

Events of distant ages roll : 

And thus the heroes of the wave 

Who first were seen the unknown deep to brave 20 

With more than mortal voice the maid addrest ; 

" Attend the counsels of my breast, 

u Ye sons of gods and heroes; future days 

" Shall see these waves from their deep bosom raise 

" Famed Thera; thence shall Libya rise ; her hand 25 

" Where Amnion's eye smiles on his favour'd land s 



V. 10. Illumined.] Medea's prophecy was delivered to the Argonauts, when they were on 
that part of the sea where afterwards the island Thera rose up. 
V. 16. By the fam'd.] Medea. 
V* 26, Wiere Amman's.] In Libya, sacred to Jupiter Ammon, 



30 



150 

" Shall raise a stem, whence branching states shall spread 
" And midst admiring realms new cities lift their head, 

E. 1. 

" The short-wing'd dolphins shall they change 
cc For steeds that lightly o'er the meadows range. 
u The oar their hands no more shall guide 
" But rapid car, whose wheels like meteors glide, 
" You saw the gift, the mystic sod, 

" No gift of mortal ; 'twas a god ; 

li Shap'd like a man, he stretch'd his social hand, 35 

" When our proud bark had gain'd the land 

" Safe-mo or'd in Triton's lake ; this omen owns 

" Thera great mother of great towns; 

<fc Down-stepping from the prow Euphemus took 

" The gift ; and all the air Jove's fav'ring thunder shook, 40 

s. 2, 
" While from forth the heaving tide 
'" Which rippled 'gainst the Argo's side 

F, 27. Shall raise ] A city called Cyrene, whence other cities shall be produced. Libya 
and Cyrene, the nymphs, gave their names to the country and the city. In plain prose 
" from Thera should be sent a colony which should found Cyrene, in Libya, which Cyrene 
would become the mother of other towns." 

V . 29. The short-wingW] i. e. Their occupations at sea should be changed for others at land. 

V. 33. The mystic sod.] To give earth and water was a sign of surrendering a country to a 
conqueror ; therefore this clod was no improper emblem. 

V. 37. In Tiiloris lake.] In Africa. 



151 

" Was drawn the brass-bcak'd curb, whose force 

" Had check'd the ardour of her course, 

" Before our eyes the god appear'd. 45 

" Twelve suns had seen with toil immense uprear'd 

" The pond'rous bulk wide-shadowing o'er the land, 

" Those dreary wastes of parching sand. 

" My counsels led our weary train, who bore 

" With stagg'ring steps the vessel from the shore, 50 

" When lo, an aged sire sole-wand'ring meets 

" The Argo and ourselves as strangers greets, 

" And, as a lib'ral host his guests, invites 

" His festal board to share and taste its rich delights. 

A. 2. 

" Son of Ocean's azure God, 55 

" Who rules the billows with his nod, 

" Himself he styles, who kindly came 

" Our friend, Eurypylus his name. 

" We, our souls too ardent burn 

" Impatient, thirsting for our sweet return, 60 

" Excuse our haste and he th' excuse allows ; 

ci Then from his social hand he throws 

" The boon, which chance presents ; quick on the land 

" Euphemus springs, stretching his ready hand, 

" Nor scorns the gift divine. But from our bark 65 

" It fell as dewy eve her mantle dark 



152 

" Drew o'er the waters of the deep, that flow 

u Eddying, while down it sinks, dissolv'd and lost below. 

e. 2. 
" Each slave, that waits his lord's command, 

" I charg'd to guard it with religious hand, 70 

(i But they the trust regardless took 
" Unletter'd in Fate's deep mysterious book ; 
" Wash'd by the undiscerning tide 
" Before its hour, this isle beside 

<c Which lurks unseen, the seed expanding lies 75 

" Whence Libya's future realms shall rise. 
" The son, Europa bore midst rushes dank 
" To Neptune on Cephisus' bank, 
" Saw not what Fate decreed; for had he down 
" The dark Taenarian chasm heav'n's pledge mysterious thrown 80 

s. 3. 
" Then fourth from him the race had sprung 
" Who, rang'd the Grecian hosts among, 
" Had seiz'd on Libya's opening plains ; 
" Then had Mycenae's warrior-trains 

" All-ardent left their native land 85 

" Joining the Spartan and the Argive Band 

V. 74. This isle.'] Thera, of which Medea speaks as if it were already an island, though 
as yet not risen above the waves. The clod was to produce Thera first, thence other colonies. 
V. 77. The son.'] Euphemus. 



153 

" Of heroes. Now chang'd is the will of Fate, 

cc For from a foreign land but late 

u A chosen and advent'rous race shall rise 

" Whose sail full-swelling under fav'ring skies 90 

" Shall reach this isle; a Lord to rule the land, 

c< Whose plains are clouded oft with eddying sand, 

" From them shall spring. Him from the golden shrine 

H Within Apollo's fane shall warn the voice divine, 

A. 3. 

u (While he treads the sacred floor) 95 

a That, Libya, to thy distant shore, 

,c Where Jove's Nilean temple stands, 

i{ He steer his hosts ; those destined lands 

u Shall crown his toils with empire late." 

Thus sung Medea the decrees of Fate* 100 

Silent in awe th* admiring heroes stood : 

Years roll'd on years their destin'd flood, 

Whenbreath'd spontaneous from the Delphic shrine 

To thee, blest Battus, spake the voice divine ; 

Thee, Battus thee, the Priestess, rapt her breast, 105 

With lofty salutation thrice addrest ; 



V. 91. A Lord."} Battus. The land meant was Libya, in which he was to found the 
eity of Cyrene. 

P. 93, Him.] Battus, 

x 



154 

" All hail, great hero, thou by heav'n's command 

" Shalt see Cyrene's tow'rs rais'dby thy sceptred hand. 9 ' 

e. 3* 

With humbler hopes the suppliant went 

To ask a cure of heav'n liis sole intent. 110 

Jove grants unask'd th' imperial crown 

To him, his offspring generations down. 

The eighth, Arcesilaus, grows 

Thy stem above each plant that blows 

Pride of the flow'r-empurpled spring. To thee 115 

Phcebus and Pytho's just decree 

Won by thy rapid wheels the wreath ordain 

Which crowns thee first on Glory's plain. 

Sacred to ev'ry Muse that wreath I bring, 

And to their sweet-toned lyre the golden fleece I sing, 120 

s. 4. 

For heav'n, when first the heroes steer'd 
That prize to seek, the branches rear'd 
From which late-opening flow'rs shall throw 
Their honours round a royal brow. 

V. 109. With humbler.'] Of being relieved from an impediment in his speech. 
V. 113. The eighth.'] Arcesilaus ; to whom, Pindar says, was justly given the prize fot 
his Pythian victory. 

V. 124. Their honours.] L e. The honour that thence should rise the kings of 



155 

What peril urg'd their destined course 125 

With adamant's resistless force ? 

The usurper Pelias heard Fate's awful word ; 

Dark counsels or th' avenging sword 

From all th' jEolian race he fear'd. The cave 

Thro' dark-embow'ring trees that answer gave 130 

Which shook the wisdom of his soul; is Beware 

'•' The approach of feet, one sandal'd and one bare, 

€t Far from his cave behind the mountain's brow 

" Beware the man who treads thy sunny plains below, 

a, 4. 

6t A stranger, though his birth was near !" 135 

Such hero at his destined year 

Was seen to stalk the awe-struck land, 

Two spears flash'd horror from his hand. 

Twofold shone his splendid vest 

Around his shoulders and his manly breast ; 140 

O'er his Magnesian garb, to ward the show'r 

When sleet or chilling hail-stones pour 

Drenching, he wears a panther's spotted hide i 

Adown his back light-wave from side to side 

Cyrene. For Battus, who planted the colony, was descended from Euphernus, to whom 
the mystic sod was given. 

V. 129. Those whom Pelias had expressed when he seized the throne. See Indo: 
on Pelias. r, 129, The cave,} At Delphi. 



156 

His glossy ringlets. Onward quick he moves, 145 

Each step his high, undaunted spirit proves. 

Th' admiring city sees the hero stand 

Conspicuous midst her crowds , a stranger to their land* 

e. 4» 
Deep awe and rev*rence struck each breast 

And thus the populace their doubt exprestj 150 

u See we descending from the skies 
" Apollo y s radiance bless our raptured eyes I 
" Or that dread god, whose brazen car 
" Thund'ring along the ranks of war 

" Bears him from Venus' lov'd embrace away I 155 

" For both thy valiant sons, they say, 
u Fair Iphimede, entombed in Naxus lie ; 
" From Dian's bow was seen to fly 
" (Mortal, learn template love) th' unerring dart 
" Pursuing impious lust till plung'd in Tityus' heart," 160 

s. 5. 
Thus man with man in ev'ry street, 
Where awe-struck thousands thronging meet, 
Speaks the conjecture of his soul. 
Before their eyes are seen to roll, 

V. 157. Fair Iphimede.} Otherwise they would have conjectured it might be one of 
them. See Index. 



157 

Bright-beaming like a silver star, 165 

The polish'd wheels of Pelias' mule-drawn car. 

The rein he half dropp'd shiv'ring from his hand, 

For lo ! he saw before him stand 

The stranger, whose unsandal'd foot betray 'd 

The mark of Fate. With well-feign'd voice he said 170 

(Fear shook his heart, tho' false smiles clothed his brow) 

" Speak, honour'd hero, of what land art thou ? 

" And who thy parents ? Let not falsehood stain 

M Thy speech, despise her arts detestable as vain." 

A. 5. 
Jason with mild, undaunted breast 175 

The monarch calmly thus addrest ; 
" Long time in Chiron's cave I bore 
" The mighty Centaur's rigid lore. 
" There Philyra, there his spotless wife, 

" There his chaste daughters watch'd my early life jgQ 

" Unstain'd with baseness or in word or deed, 
M While twenty rolling winters speed. 
iC Now Justice leads me to my ancient home ; 
" To reassume my father's throne I come, 

" That throne, whence Tyranny enslaves the state 185 

u In bold defiance of all-righteous Fate, 

• V, 181. Unstain'd.] Heyne had almost persuaded me to agree with him. But Pindar 
says «• word ©r deed. Heyne, in Pyth. I. interprets the word in a bad sense, why not here 1 



158 

" Giv'n to th' iEolian race by heav'n's great god 

" Who sanctions earthly pow'r or sinks it with a nocL 

e. 5. 
" The rightful sceptre, which of yore 

€t Year after year my honour'd fathers bore 190 

" Pelias by force usurps, so foul 
" And base the dictates of his shallow souh 
" No sooner did my infant sight 
" First-opening view heav'n's golden light % 

" Parental care, dreading his tyrant-sway, 195 

" Sent me in midnight's gloom away 
" Thick-shrowded in dark purple. At the door 
" Funereal trains were heard deplore 
" With counterfeited woe. Myself they gave 
" With cautious steps convey'd to Chiron's distant cave. 200 

ft. 6. 
" The annals of my life ye know : 
u Be kind, ye citizens, and show 
M The palace, where in days of yore 
" My warlike sires their sceptre bore. 

" 'Tis iEson's son before you stands, 205 

u No wand'ring exile, spy of unknown lands. 

V. 187. uEolian race.'] Jason was descended from ^Eolus, 

V. 206, No wand'ring.] This explains what was said before— 

" A stranger, though his birth was near." — An, 4. 



159 

" Among yourselves my noble birth I claim, 

" The Centaur Jason calPdmy name." 

He spake ; and soon the unexpected sight 

Of his son ent'ring raptured with delight 2 1 

The father's eye and forth the big drops break 

Down-rolling warm along his aged cheek 

To see his son flow'ring in youthful grace 

Vigorous, of lofty mien, the first of human race> 

A. 6e 

Lo! both the noble brothers came 215 

Rous'd by the cheering call of Fame ? 

From diverse habitations meet 

And glad their long-lost hero greet $ 

Pheres from the fountain near, 

Whence Hypereia draws her waters clear, 220 

And Amythaon his Messene leaves. 

Admetus comes and kind receives 

The hero ; and Melampus quick attends. 

With gentle words Jason accosts his friends 5 

Rich, hospitable presents he bestows 225 

While round the board the copious goblet flows* 



V. 210. Of his son eni'ring,] His father's house, we are left to supply, u well 
other previous circumstances. 

F. 222 and 223. Admetus and Mekmpus,} Relations c 



160 

With converse sweet five days and five long nights 
They crop the sacred flow'rs of mirth and choice delights* 

e. 6. 
When rose the sixth, on ev'ry friend 

He calls his weightier counsels to attend 230 

Disclosing all. With him they rose, 
And each to the Usurper's palace goes. 
Soon within his doors they stand 
A friendly, close-united Band. 

The son of lovely-tressed Tyro hears, 235 

And straight before their eyes appears. 
Words soft as dew-drops flow'd from Jason's breast 
While thus to Pelias he addrest 
Wise counsels ; " Hail son of the pow'rful God 
" Who on his rocky throne rules Ocean with his nod I 240 

s. 7, 
u Though man too dearly loves the vain 
" And empty gloss of unjust gain, 
" And rashly holds by lawless might 
a The tempting, treacherous delight ; 



V. 235. The son o/.] Pelias. 

V. 240. Who on his rocky,] The learned have assigned several reasons for Neptune's title, 
none of which would seem pleasant to an English reader. 1 therefore take the liberty to sub- 
stitute poetry for learning, which I think Pindar would not disapprove. 



161 

u 'Tis not for us to grasp the prey ; 245 

" Transient the short-liv'd riot of a day ! 

" But calm our joy, when curbing wild desire 

" We quench Ambition's frantic fire. 

<c Monarch, attend, I speak to one, who knows. 

" From the same mother either lineage flows, 250 

" Ourselves the third of this illustrious line 

" On whom the golden sun-beams present shine, 

" Where kindred contests lift their baneful head 

" Shame hides the ruin'd house, all happiness is fled. 

A. 7. 
" Swords that cleave the brazen shield 255 

" Or spears that lighten o'er the field 
" Are not for us ; ill they divide 
u The wealth, our honour'd fathers' pride. 
" Lo, all the lowing herds that feed, 

" With all the flocks that whiten ev'ry mead, 260 

" All the rich fields, whose teeming furrows o'er 
" Waves golden plenty, I restore; 
" These from my honour'd sires force rent away, 
" Enjoy them freely, fatten on the prey : 

" These goods I envy not. The princely throne 265 

" Where sate my sire revered and, show'ring down 



V, 250. From the same mother.'] Enarea. 
Y 



162 

u All joys, with justice nurtured still the land, 

" That throne restore or dread the vengeance of (his hand 2 

e. 7. 
" Resign the sceptre. Discord's chain 

" Shackles alike and galls with mutual pain 270 

" The neck of each contending foe, 
" Whence ever springs some unexpected woe." 
He spake and Pelias calm replies ; 
" My steps attend thy counsels wise. 

€i But oh that I could change these locks, which spread 275 

" The snows of age around my head, 
" For youth's full flow'rs, that now en vigor tliee, 
fc Then, from the threat'ning vengeance free 
u Of gods infernal, soon would I recall, 
" Phrixus, thy ling'ring soul from stern iEetas' hall, 280 

s. 8. 
u And the ricli golden fleece restore 
<c With which he safely gain'd the shore* 



V. 267. All joys, with justice.'] Pindar by this hint fixes his hero's ambition on its only just 
foundation, a wish to make the proper use of power. I am mistaken too if he did not intend 
obliquely to remind the king, to whom he addressed his ode, not to be too severe against his 
snbjects. See note on ep. 12 of this ode. Pindar abounds in concealed beauties of this kind. 

V. 280. Phrixus, thy.~\ Phrixus avoiding his mother-in-law, passed the narrow sea on the 
ram, and went to king iEetas. He sacrificed the ram and hung the golden fleece up in the 
temple. After death his ghost warned Pelias to expiate his soul, " for the souls of those 
who died in a foreign land it was the custom, by certain mysteries, to recall."' 



163 

16 While with malicious shafts behind 

" His step-dame pierc'd the empty wind ! 

u Warn'd by strange dreams, Castalia's shrine §85 

u Anxious I sought, whence breath'd the voice divine 

" Which bade me instant dare the waves. But now 

66 For me, young hero, launch thy prow, 

" So shall this sceptre grace thy valiant hand 

" And all my people bow to thy command, ^93 

" Look down from heav'n, almighty Jove, and hear 

" From thy high throne the solemn oath I swear l" 

On Jove, to whom their birth both heroes owe, 

Both heroes jointly call to ratify the vow 

A. 8. 
At Jason's nod the heralds gave 293 

Instant the word " to stem the wave." 
Three sons of Jove, who at th' alarm 
Of. battle lift th' unwearied arm, 
He, on whose face, portentous child, 

At birth with arched brow Alcmena smil'd, 300 

And Leda's twins before him ardent stand. 
Two sons of Neptune his command 
Attend obedient ; (lifted high in air 
Their high crests nodding as they wield the spear) 

V. 291, Three- wis nf,] Hercules, Castor, and Pollux. 



164 

Great Periclimenus from Pylus came 305 

From Taenarus Euphemus ; each for fame, 
For glory burns ; and Phoebus' son, whose lyre 
Of melody and song speaks him the honour'd sire- 

e. 8. 
Two sons of Mercury, whose hand 

Waves the rich brilliance of his golden wand, 310 

Their bosoms warm with youthful fire, 
Adventrous to these glorious toils aspire. 
Fierce Boreas, monarch of the wind, 
While fresh hope brightens in his mind, 

Calls forth his youthful heroes, who abide 315 

Around Pangaeum's lofty side, 
To arm for glory ; o'er their shoulders play 
Their purple wings in loose array. 
For fame each hero pants with strong desire, 
Great Juno warms their breast and fans the glorious fire* 320 

s. 9. 
Alike, an ardent Band, they glow 
Borne by the Argo's glitt'ring prow 
The unknown depths of ocean o'er 
His various wonders to explore, 

F.309. Two sons of Mercury.'] Echion and Erytus. 



165 

Each scorning with ignoble care 325 

Beneath a mother's wing year after year , 

To nurse base life; " rather let glorious death 

" Bind our cold brows with virtue's wreath, 

a That sweetest balm, with equals as we brave 

" Thethreat'ning terrors of the distant wave." 330 

Assembled on Iolchos' shore the Band, 

Flow'r of heroic youth all list'ning stand, 

With praises Jason, with glad signs the seer 

And voices from the gods their panting bosoms cheer. 

a. 9. 
Rushing on the deck they stand $35 

Up-drawn the anchor ; in his hand 
The valiant chief is seen to hold 
A, purple-foaming cup of gold « 
Jove, mighty father of the skies, 

From whose dread arm the fire-wing ? d arrow flies 310 

Of rapid Fate, he calls ; each swelling wave, 
Night's ebon gloom, the winds that rave, 
Pale Ocean's untried paths, calm-smiling days 
And friendly Fortune ; that with Glory's rays 

May shine triumphal his return. Forth brake 345 

From heav'n Jove's fav'ring flashes; loudly spake 

V. 333. Theseer.J Mopsus. The voices were those of birds, by which the gods were 
thought to signify events. Thus Olym. VI. st. 4» Q&Vslv akmv« 



166 

Through the deep-bosom'd clouds in awful roll 
Assenting sounds ; amaze entranc'd each hero's soul. 

e. 9. 
Breathless they pause, till soon the seer 

Interpreter of heav'nly signs they hear. 3b0 

Sweet promises and hopes attend 
Their toils, unwearied to the oar they bend. 
To the rough Euxine straights, where foam 
Th' inhospitable surfs, they come 

Wafted by heav'n-sent gales. Upon the shore 355 

The god of waters they adore 
And mark his sacred ground. The plain supplies 
A lowing herd for sacrifice. 
A pile of massy stones upon the land 
Presents an altar rais'd by Nature's forming hand. 360 

s. 10. 
Par o'er the ocean they survey 'd 
Their perils and to Neptune pray'd 
To guard them through the direful clash 
Of rocks whose fronts together dash. 

With blind, resistless force they crush, 365 

Ail-life they whirl — no winds, that boisterous rush, 

V. 357. And mark.] I cannot conceive they could at this time do more than consecrate 
the ground, where probably a temple was afterwards built. 



161 

With hastier fury toss the madden'd waves i 

Eddying in foam vex'd Ocean raves ; 

But bold the heroes ply the oar and all 

The terrors of these seeming monsteers fall, 370 

Lifeless they stand. Soon rest their dashing oars 

Where the black depth of Phasis laves the shores 

Widening. To meet their force with fierce alarms 

Colchis her valiant troops of swarthy warriors arms, 

A. 10. 

Drawn by the bird of mad desire, 375 

Venus, whose darts transfix each soul, 

Whose magic wheels resistless roll, 

Descends ; his painted wings the fire 

Of love first fann'd in mortal heart. 

Warm, soothing pray'rs, and soft-enticing art 380 

She teaches the brave chief and bids him move 

Medea's melting soul to love. 

Respect for parents cools ; a new desire 

Of Greece and Jason lights a warmer fire. 

Her father's secrets she betrays and arms 3S5 

tier hero for the contest with the charms 

Of potent drugs and hails th' approaching day 

When both in union sweet shall steer triumphantly away. 

V. 375. Draivn by the bird.'] Instead of doves Pindar assigns here to Venus the bird 
thought to excite wild love-, which she binds, says the poet,, to an indissoluble wheel, 



168 



e. 10, 



First in the ground is fix'd a plough 

Of adamant ; the fierce bulls, as they lowe, 390 

Forth from their wide-stretch'd nostrils pour 

Torrents of blasting flame with hideous roar, 

Ere to the yoke they stubborn bend 

Their necks, furious they rush, they rend 

With brazen hoofs the ground ; iEeta's hand 395 

Alone their wildness can command. 

That hand is seen the wondrous plough to guide 

Turning th' uplifted ridge aside. 

" Draw thus thy furrows," cries the king, " as mine, 

" So be th' immortal fleece with golden fringes thine." 400 

s. 11. 
Thus vaunting loud the monarch cries, 
And dares him for the glitt'ring prize 
To the dread contest. From his breast- 
Instant he throws his splendid vest. 

Trusting in heav'n, intent he flies 405 

Bold to begin the glorious enterprize. 
Vain roll the dusky flames, Medea's charm 
Protects her favour'd chief from harm. 
The bulls he forces their stiff necks to bow 
By strong Compulsion's yoke chain'd to the plough. 410 



169 

Each sturdy side the galling goad receives, 

Till Jason with vast toil the task achieves. 

Wond'ring in silent grief iEeta stands 

To see the courage of his soul, the vigour of his hands. . 

A. 11. 
Shouts from his faithful host ascend ; 415 

All-ardent, to their valiant friend 
Stretching their hands, around his brow 
In haste a verdant crown they throw 
And cheer him with glad words. The son 

Of Phoebus now proclaims the booty won ; 420 

Where Phrixus slew the ram, a second toil 
Remains, to seize the glitt'ring spoil. 
Here hopes the king his art will nought avail, 
His strength be broken and his courage fail. 

Deep-shrouded in a forest's gloom it lay, 425 

A dragon's jaws terrific watch'd the prey. 
No five-bench'd galley, whose enormous hulk 
Full many a pond'rous engine form'd, could equal its vast bulk. 

e. 11. 

But now, my Muse, no longer stray, 

Guide back thy courser by a nearer way. 430 

V. 419. The tan.] iEeta. 

V. 427. Nofive-bench'd.] Pindar might compare the dragon to what himself had seen. 
Why then would Heyne confine the comparison to the Argo ? 

Z 



170 

The hour demands his utmost speed 

And Wisdom's sons may follow where we lead. 

Jason the dragon's azure eyes 

Soon clos'd in death. Before him lies 

Out-stretch'd the spotted monster. With his prey 435 

The maid conceal'd he bears away, 

Death to her sire. The ocean crost, the crew 

The barbarous dames of Lemnos knew 

Stain'd by their husbands' blood. Their vigour gains 

The splendid vest that shines high o'er the listed plains. 440 

s. 12. 
Thence, great Arcesilas arose 
The sun of happiness, which throws 
Forth-beaming from that distant place 
His cheering rays around thy race. 

For Fate the ardent heroes led, 445 

Each at his hour, to a soft Lemnian bed. 
Hither, Euphemus, trace the ancient root 
From which the num'rous branches shoot 
Of thy high lineage. Them the hand of Time 
Guides, righteous Sparta, to thy distant clime. 450 



V. 440. The splendid vest.] The prize of these exercises. 

V. 447. Hither.] The poet has now traced his hero's ancestry from the Argonauts 
through Lemnos to Sparta, to Thera, and to Cyrene, the city of Arcesilaus, whom he is 

celebrating. 



171 

The wave-girt shores of Thera next they gain. 

Phcebus the heroes thence to Libya's plain 

And fair Cyrene's golden sceptre calls, 

Honour'd by heav'n to found her long-predestined walls. 

a. 12. 
Grave Wisdom there her council holds. 455 

Wisdom the secret depth unfolds 
Of each dark sentence. Who so wise 
As QEdipus, whose searching eyes 
Could pierce the Sphynx's wiles? And thou 

Art wise, great king, my secret hint to know. 460 

See where down-hewn by the fell axe's stroke. 
His stately growth deform'd, the oak 
Lies low, the honours of his rev'rend brows 
Shatter'd and torn away ; his trunk yet shows 

His greatness, cheering winter's tedious night 465 

With far-extending warmth and social light ; 
Or see him rang'd with stately columns stand 
Propping some princely dome far from his native land. 

V. 460. My secret hint.'] The poet hints a wish to have Demophilus recalled from exile, 
who had joined in an insurrection. Heyne supposes Pindar here rebukes the king's severity, 
not only to one man but to all those Cyreneans who had opposed his measures. That by the 
oak he intended to image Demophilus can hardly be doubted, but we may easily allow that 
by the one example of Demophilus he hinted at the king's too great severity to the others. 
And here seems to be the enigma : for thus while the poet seems to explain it himself in a 
confined sense, he leaves the king to interpret it more extensively. This seems a most artful 
way of giving advice. 



172 



e. 12. 



Thy breast the lenient balsam knows, 

On thee Apollo his whole art bestows, 470 

Light be thy touch to ease the smart 

Of the fell wound (hat wastes a gen'rous hearts 

Full easy for the weakest hand 

To shake the state ; with wise command 

To their right seat the ruins to restore 475 

Demands no sudden act of pow'r, 

But more than mortal man's, it asks the nod 

Assenting of some heav'nly God. 

Discord's wide rents to close, the Graces leave 

To thee and for thy land a robe of joy to weave. 480 

s. 13. 

Hear reverend Homer, truly sings 

The Bard " that herald honour brings 

" Who well his message can declare." 

This honour too my Muse may share 

While soft she wooes thee to recall 485 

That exile, whom Cyrene knows and all 

Thy house, great Battus, blest with righteous soul, 

In youth a man. Long years, that roll 

Their snows around the Sage's rev'rend head, 

Ne'er show'r'd more copious wisdom, than is shed 490 



173 

In kindly dew his vernal flow'rs among. 
Before him dumb is Slander's vaunting tongue, 
Herself stands slighted as in orphan state, 
Malevolence is curs'd with his eternal hate. 

a. 13. 

To his warm heart for ever dear 495 

The great and good his friendship share 

Unenvied. Does the hour demand 

Dispatch ? His ever-ready hand 

Seizes, ere it glance away, 

The bright occasion of the present day, 500 

Unlike the slave, who sees with drowsy eye 

The slighted good for ever fly. 

And must this hero still be doom'd to stand 

On a far shore and view his native land 

With arms outstretch'd ? Atlas with hope less vain 505 

May strive t' unhinge the skies and quit the plain. 

Yet Jove himself relenting spared his foes, 

When falls the breeze to change his sail each seaman knows. 



V. 500. The bright occasion.'] Does not Pindar hint that this is a good opportunity to recall 
Demophilus, and restore the rest of the party to favour ? 

V, 508. When falls the.~\ This image may suggest, that as occasions change vve ought to 
change our conduct. As Demophilus had lost the favourable gale of Fortune, it was right to 
cease all severity towards him. It may likewise suggest, that as his force was exhausted he 
too would change his conduct, contracting his sails, and therefore might safely be recalled. 



174 



IS. 



Full long upon his vex"d soul preys 

The restless wish, sad, wasting, slow disease, 510 

His home once more to see, and join 

The social banquet near the fount divine, 

There resign his soul to pleasures 

Tracing light youth's frolic measures ; 

Or touch the lyre 'mid seniors grave and wise 515 

Soft scenes of peace cheering his eyes, 

All fears of injury in ev'ry breast 

Hush'd undisturb'd in sacred rest. 

And to thee, hero, would he name the Muse 

Who late at Thebes refresh'd his soul with her ambrosial dews. 520 



V. 512. The fount."] A fountain of Cyrene, sacred to Apollo. 

V. 520. Who late at ] It is supposed they had met at Thebes, or that Hemophilus, when 
at Thebes, had been informed of what Pindar had been saying. 



PYTHIAN ODE V, 

TO THE SAME ARCESILAUS, OR ARCESILAS, OF CYRENE, VICTOR 
IN THE CHARIOT-RACE. 



s. 1. 

WlDE is the pow'r of wealth, by the pure hand 

Of Virtue temper'd ; Fate's command 

Swelling the deep and generous tide 

To mortal man ; all-copious, sweetly glide 

Its golden streams, winning full many a friend. 5 

On thee, Arcesilas, attend 

O ever-blest, the heav'nly pow'rs 

Through Life's long paths from her first-opening flow'rs, 

And by thy side 

Bright Glory walks thy guide, 10 

For Castor o'er thy land 

From car of gold his guardian hand 

Holds forth, all storms he calms, and round thy throne 

He pours the smile of Peace in soft effulgence down. 

V. 1 1. Castor was one of the presidents of these games. He seems also to be mentioned 
as one of the tutelar gods of the country. The peace mentioned alludes to a deliverance from 
civil commotions, which is attributed to the tutelar god. In this change of fortune the hero 
is compared to his ancestor, Battus. 



176 



a. 1. 

Wisdom best bears the golden sceptre, giv'n 15 

Bright from the sacred stores of heav'n. 

Lo, where o'er Virtue's hallow'd ground 

Thou tread'st, the flow'rs of bliss thy steps around 

Spring plenteous. Cities great and rich obey 

Willing thy mild and gentle sway. 20 

Thy soul, thy awe-commanding eye, 

Beaming united rays of majesty 

Proclaim thee Lord 

Of choicest wealth, adored 

With reverential fear. 35 

Hark ! The glad songs of triumph greet thine ear. 

To Phoebus swells the sacred strain ; for Fame 

At Py tho crown'd thy steeds and hail'd thy honour'd name. 

E. 1. 

Thou, while Cyrene hears the voice of praise 

Along the fair enchanting ground, 30 

Garden of Venus' self, resound, 

And the loud lyre responsive to the lays, 

Forget not to confess with grateful breast, 

That fav'ring heav'n alone bestows 

Success to crown our mortal vows : 35 

Thy love Carrhotus claims above the rest ; 



\ 



177 

With far-foreseeing eyes 

(No son of Error after-wise, 

Wreck'd careless on the plain. 

Shrinking behind excuses vain,) 40 

He steer'd thy car and bade Gyrene's town 

Moist with Castalian dew behold thy glorious crown. 

s. 2. 

The ground, while swift the airy-footed steeds 

Whirl round the car, twelve times recedes : 

Still bright it glitters, ev'ry part 45 

Unshatter'd, as when first the hand of art 

With nicest elegance the matchless frame 

Completed ; flashing when it came 

Past Crisa's hill, where shadowy stood 

Skirting the hollow plain, her ancient wood \ £0 

There fix'd intire 

For ages to admire 

The monument remains fl 

Of skill, which held the guiding reins ; 

On Cypress-beam beside the trunk it stands 55 

Which to a statue erst was form'd by Cretan hands, 



V. 42. Moist with.'} Castalia flowed near Pytho. 
^ V. 51. There fix'd intire.] It was the custom to consecrate the car which had gained the 
victory. The spot, were this was placed, is particularly marked by the cypress beam. 

A a 



ITS 



a. 2. 

Rise, hero, rise and grateful meet thy friend ; 

Let honour and just praise attend 

Thy benefactor. Sweetly shine, 

Ye bright-hair'd Graces, with a light divine 60 

Around his brow, whose skill, whose steady hand 

With toilsome, cautious, firm command 

Curb'd the proud coursers on the plain 

And justly merit my recording strain. 

Calm he appears 05 

Midst hosts of charioteers 

Whose shatter'd cars bestrew 

The ground. Darting his coursers flew, 

Shouts rent the air, bright VicVxy wav'd the rein ; 

Triumphal his return gladdens his Libyan plain. 70 

e. 2. 

Who lives exempt from toil ? Your searching eyes 
Turn back to Time's last verge. By heav'n 
Man's portion was and shall be giv'n ; 
Monarch, 'tis thus heroes to glory rise. 



V. 57. Thy friend.'] Carrhotus, the charioteer. 
V. 66. Midst hosts.] No less than forty. 



179 

But Fortune from great Battus still descends, 75 

From clouds she clears the varying hour 

And smiles on thee, thy country's tow'r, 

The brightest eye of succour to thy friends. 

Him lions fled for fear : 

Wak'd into speech his tongue their ear $0 

Smote with amazement dread. 

A god, a god the hero led 

To found his city on the distant shore, 

Aloof the awe-struck monsters slink ceasing their hideous roar. 

s. 3. 
As Phoebus spake, Gyrene's tow'rs arise. 85 

His word is truth and ever-wise 
His art to drive distorting pains 
And fell disease from man. To lovely strains 
He wakes those chords that harmonize the soul. 

All stormy passions fierce and foul, 90 

Mad Anarchy and Violence cease 
Soft-sinking in the heav'nly calm of Peace, 
And from his shrine 
Breathes the true voice divine. 



V. 75. Great Baitus.] He, by the command of Apollo, led his colony to Cyrene. Pindar 
describes the lions awe-struck by the god lest they should hinder the completion of his oracle. 
The poet then goes on to describe the sons of other chiefs leading out colonies in a similar 
manner, a more particular account of which seems needless. 



180 

Lo, where it marks their way 95 

The sons of mightiest chiefs obey, 

The heav'n-sent guards, each of a foreign town. 

In Pylus, Argos, Sparta lives their ever-bright renown, 

a. 3. 

Sparta, from thee my sires of noble name 

Great JEgeus' sons to Thera came, 100 

Some heav'nly guardian by their side 

Attending still, all-pow'rful Fate their guide ; 

Thence the Carneian feast they reinstate 

And as the rites they celebrate 

To Phoebus many a victim falls 105 

Beside the proud Cyrene's castled walls. 

To her fam'd shore 

Antenor's sons of yore 

Glitt'ring in armour came 

With Helen, whose illustrious name 110 

O'er ev'ry region of the wide world flies, 

While fall'n their hapless Troy in smoking ruins lies. 

■ 

V. 96. Of mightiest chiefs.] Hercules and ./Egimius. 

V. 99. The connection is, " from Sparta Pindar's own ancestors went to Thera first and 
thence to Cyrene, to visit king Battus, ahcestor of Arcesilaus j when there they partook of 
some sacrifices in honour of the Trojan heroes who had come thither, and were after death 
adored by those whom Battus had led to Cyrene." This is the best interpretation of this 
dark passage I am able to offer. . 



181 



e. 3, 

There rest their bones ; there round their tombs arise 

In honour of the mighty dead 

Kindled by those great Battus led 115 

The fragrant flames of grateful sacrifice ; 

When now the hero o'er the rolling deep 

Open'd a path and taught to glide 

His swift- wing'd vessels down the tide. 

He too the ancient way craggy and steep 120 

Smooth'd, that the sacred train 

Easy o'er the level plain 

Guiding their stately steeds 

In honour of the god proceeds 

Who heals the nations. In that sacred ground 125 

In a sequester'd tomb his ashes rest renown'd. 

s. 4. 
Blest was the life midst mortal men he led, 
And all revere the hero dead ; 
While other kings who shared the day 
Of dreadful Fate before the palace lay 130 

V. 117. When now the hero."] Battus. 

V. 121. Smoothed, that.'] It was a custom to make a sacred procession in times of calamity, 
Apollo (see v. 80) had cured Battus of his impediment of speech ; the epithet therefore is with 
singular propriety applied to the same god, which though in one word in the original cannot 
be so translated. 



182 

Wrapt in the sacred silence of the tomb. 
Illustrious virtues, as they bloom 
Light-sprinkled with refreshing dews 
By the sweet fingers of the heav'nly Muse, 
Rich honours shed 
Around the mighty dead. 

Their genuine wealth. Their son 

Victorious, crown'd with wreaths he won, 

Pleas'd they survey, pleas'd hear the hymn of praise 

Sung to the god whose sword forth-flashes golden rays ; 14° 



For 'twas that god who on his sacred ground, 

Beheld Arcesilaus crown'd. 

Gold and its cares, while sweetly rise 

The strains of triumph, fade before the prize. 

His well-earn'd praise shall ev'ry Muse rejoice ** D 

In a trite phrase and common voice 

To chant, which all the wise bestow ; 

Ci Beyond his years did his vast soul o'erflow." 



V. 137. Their son.'] Arcesilaus. 

V. 140. The god.] Apollo. 

V. 141. For Hufas.1 Apollo presided at these games. It was on his ground that the hero 
had gained the prize ; it was the same god who had been the guardian of his ancestor ; to him 
therefo the hymn was justly due. An allusion is frequent to the expense of a chariot race 
repaid by the prize of victory. 

V. 146. In a trite.] " That his soul was wise beyond his years.** 



183 

In lofty speech, 

In valour, far as reach 150 

Wide eagle-wings in flight 

Above all birds, a dazzling height 

He rose; in strength atow'r; to ev'ry art 

At birth the lively Muse inspiring form'd his heart. 

e. 4. 
Lo, with what skill to victory he trains 155 

His rattling car, his panting steeds ! 
First of his land, where Virtue leads 
Her sons, those arduous, honour'd heights he gains ; 
A god assisting stands. And may he still 

In council and in action share, 160 

Ye blessed sons of heav'n, your care ! 
His stem of life, when wintry blasts blow chill, 
Your shelt'ring hand beneath 
Defy the bitter, with'ring breath ! 

Shine out, almighty Jove, 165 

Man's feeble bark without thy love 
Steers darkling its sad course. Still may thy race, 
Battus, at Elis feel the warm beams of his grace ! 

V, 168. Batlusyat.'] The poet prays for Jupiter's favour, who presided at Olympia, to 
attend the race of Battus still, and grant him an Olympic crown. 



PYTHIAN ODE VI. 

THIS ODE IS ADDRESSED TO XENOCRATES, OF AGRIGENTUM, 
VICTOR IN THE CHARIOT-RACE. 



s. 1. 

XT ARK to the lyre ! The black-eyed queen of love 

Or the fair Graces' smiling train 

Open their flow'r-empurpled plain 

And lead us o'er the sacred ground 

Where far from floods, that roar around 

Th' encircled earth, waves her deep central grove : 



In this ode Pindar praises Thrasybulus, though he inscribes the ode to his father Xeno= 
crates. We are told he ordered his father's name to be proclaimed though himself was 
conqueror. This piety then being the foundation of the whole structure of this figurative 
composition, the poet begins with describing himself on the ground of Venus, or the Graces 
preparing his ode, and then consecrating it at Pytho, which was supposed to be in the middle 
part of the earth ; his hymn there dedicated to Apollo the presiding god, will be safe, he says, 
for ages. The earth was supposed to be encircled with ocean. Venus is the goddess of every 
thing lovely. To dress the ground of the Graces is in Pindar's language to prepare an hymn 
(see ep. 1. Olym. IX.) To dedicate it to Apollo and place it in his sacred grove, is to com- 
pose it on a Pythian victory. It has been supposed Pindar describes himself going with others 
to fetch the ode. If so, who composed it? Qtt<ra.vpo$ v(/.vav cannot be the materials of 
hymns ; it is the plural for the singular, tov in the next antistrophe must relate to this : 
if it meant the treasury it would be but poor poetry. 



185 

The song of glorious victory we sing, 

Records of triumph to the fane we bring; 

Sacred, Emmenides, to all thy line, 

And, Agragas, thy meads her hymn of praise 10 

The sweet Muse offers at Apollo's shrine 

And midst the treasured gold of ages pours her lays, 

A. I. 

There safe-inshrined her hymn, the Victor's crown, 

No drenching storm, that furious flies 

Dash'd by Winter from the skies, 15 

No host of clouds, whose thunders roar. 

No raging blasts, that rend the shore, 

Midst surfs and sands and stones uptorn can drown. 

While on the sire it beams with visage bright, 

His Thrasybulus shares its golden light, 20 

Great, gen'rous, noble ! Rise, immortal Fame, 

The glorious garlands, his proud coursers bear 



V. 9. Sacred, Emmenides.'} Ancestor of Xenocrates. 

V. 13. There safe-inshrined.'] Hence Ovid's " jamque opus exegi." But he was not a poet 
to imitate Pindar. His sentiment shows his inferior piety, his images the inferiority of his 
genius. Pindar says his ode being consecrated to Apollo is protected against all the storms 
and fury of the elements. Ovid impiously, though unsheltered with the favour of any god 
or sanctity of place, defies the rage of Jupiter to destroy his poem. If it be said that Jupiter 
means only the air, yet the far-fetched excuse will but ill defend him. Horace likewise 
imitates, but cannot come near the grandeur of Pindar, " exegi monimefltum," &c. In his 
images the Theban bard stands unrivalled. 

b b 



18<S 

From Crisa's vales to all his race proclaim ; 

His joyful sire the loud triumphal strains shall hear. 

s. 2. 
Bright Glory's wreaths he grasped with pious hand t 25 

'Twas his to act what spake the Sage ; 
For when to Chiron's rev'rend age 
His mighty infant Peleus gave 
To train in his sequester'd cave, 

This was his prime, his solemn, grand commannd ; 30 

" First of all beings to revere the pow'r 
" Whose awful frowns above the thunders low'r, 
" Whose nod suspended vengeful lightnings wait 
" To hurl their horrors o'er the sons of heav'n ; 

"His parents next to honor, while by fate 35 

" To them the stinted hour of mortal life is giv'n." 

a* 2* 

Thus great Antiloch us, wise Nestor's son 5 

True to his parent, brave and good 

Memnon's mighty rage with stood, 

Fierce as he led his iEthiop band, 40 

Met and charg'd him hand to hand 

And for his parent's life resign'd his own i 

V. 26. >Twas his to."] His piety was such as Chiron* the sage, endeavoured to instil into 
Achilles. It was equal to that of Nestor's son. 



187 

Paris, thy steel had pierc'd the father's steed, 

Swift as he urg'd his flight, and check'd his speed; 

On rushes Memnon fierce, his dart he flings ; &■& 

Nestor the furious light'ning of the spear 

Sees flashing o'er his son ; aghast he springs 

To earth and shuddering calls aloud with sudden fear, 

s. 3. 

He call'd, but ah ! his words fall to the ground : s 

All-vain the father's voice to save 50 

The pious hero from his grave ; 

Resolv'd his generous blood he shed, 

Rejoic'd his godlike spirit fled 

His sire to ransom from the shades profound. 



V. 49. He called, but.] As Heyne interprets this, the poet would say, *' the father's 
words were not uttered in vain." What then ! are we to suppose Nestor called his son to 
die in his stead ? To honour the son we must then dishonour the wise and good Nestor. 
No. Heyne intended not this, the father called for assistance and called not in vain. But 
what follows ? Why that the son died for the father. Then the intention of the father's call 
was defeated, and Pindar's words were not true. But that Nestor called through fear for his 
son is a thought worthy of the great poet, and the words will more properly bear this interpre- 
tation than the other ; if you consider where the negative stands this really seems the more 
natural meaning ; Pindar does not say, a yjLy.eLnrni*; i ? ctf sxo? aj7n^i\iv ctvTVt but 
p^6t//ct/TST5? «T' cfcp' ST0£ an otTsp/^gj' O.VTV. Now if you say these two expressions 
naturally mean the same, you reduce many sentences to an uncertainty. No author should 
rashly be supposed so to place a negative as to make its application, and consequently the 
meaning of the whole' sentence, doubtful. When the orator, as with a whirlwind, throws 
together four negatives in a breath, (xftTTQT a^iV Y\piV s p») he so does it that no one can 
misunderstand his meaning. 



188 

Where midst the various deeds of high renown 55 

In ancient days, should Glory fix her crown 

If not on piety and worth like this ? 

Such was the wonder of our younger days : 

We wonder now no more ; for warm as his 

Our hero's pious love claims ever-living praise. CO 

a. 3. 
He rivals too his honour'd Theron's name. 
See sober Wisdom walks, his guide, 
Nor ever Insolence nor Pride, 
Those cankers, from his riches sprung 

To waste the flow'rs that grace the young : 65 

The Muse of heav'n lights in his soul her flame. 
Great Neptune smiles, first author of the steed, 
With grace and vigour as he guides his speed. 
An equal grace in calmer life he shows, 

His social ease amid the feast appears, 70 

And, sweet as from its cell the honey flows, 
Warm in his smile his heart speaks to the guest he cheers. 



V. 61. He rivals loo."] Theron his uncle. 

V. 67. Great Neptune.] As the production of the horse was attributed to Neptune, Pindar 
means that his hero was skilful in managing the steed. We are told he drove his father's 
horses. As the chariot race was attended with very great danger, I cannot help thinking 
there was more than common difficulty and danger in driving these steeds of Xenocrates. If 
so the whole ode appears with an addition of beauty, as the pious hero hazarded his own life 
for his father's glory, and thus might very properly be compared to Antilochus. 



PYTHIAN ODE VII. 

TO MEGACLES, OF ATHENS, VICTOR IN THE RACE OF CHARIOTS 
DRAWN BY FOUR HORSES. 



W HERE, queen of cities, shall I raise 
Nobler the structure of immortal praise, 
Than where thy car-borne Victor shakes the ground, 
Athens, with glory crown'd ? 
What more distinguish'd race, 
More high, more ancient shall I trace 
Midst all the families of Greece, than thine, 
Illustrious progeny of famed Alcmaeon's line ? 



In ev'ry city lives your name, 

Alcmaeon's sons, all nations speak your fame. 10 

The Delphic temple their admiring eyes 

Beheld from ruins rise, 

V. 1 1. The Delphic.'] No wonder the victors were desirous of being celebrated by Pindar, 
who not confining himself to the victory, always searched for some nobler theme of praise. 
The sons of Alcmaeon were the chief restorers of this temple, which had been burnt. 



190 

Fours was the pious deed ; 

Justly ye claim the Victor's meed ; 

Eight times has Victory been seen to crown . . . , 15 

Thee, hero, and thy sires with honour and renown. 



How does thy Bard rejoice 

And in glad strains his voice 

Thy late-won laurels hail ! 

But envious Fate succeeds 20 

Scowling dark cloud o'er Virtue's splendid deeds, 

Chill rise the eddy blasts and rend each swelling sail. 

Life's happiest tide for ever wavering flows, 

Now billowing high in joy, low-sinking now in woes. 



F. 15. Eight limps.} They won five Isthmian crowns, one at Olympia, two at Cirrha, 
V. 20. But envious Fate.'] It has been supposed this alludes to a friend of Megacles, who 
died about the time of his victory. 



PYTHIAN ODE VIII. 

TO ARISTOMENES, OF iEGINA, VICTOR IN WRESTLING. 

s. 1. 

SWEET Peace, soft-bosomtt child 

Of Justice, ever*mild, 

Exalter of great states, whose lovely hand 

Unlocks the secret breast 

Of Council, in deep rest 5 

Grim War composes with enchanted band 3 

The Pythian Conqueror receive 

And for his brow thy choicest laurels weave. 

While blooms the season fair, well knows thy heart 

All blessings to enjoy, all blessings to impart. 10 

A. 1. 

When Rage tempests the soul 

And boist'rous billows roll 

Thy pow'rful beams break forth upon the foe. 

No more the sails of Pride 



jEgina being well regulated with regard to laws and blest with peace, the poet begins 
this ode with a beautiful address to Peace. 



192 

Swell o'er the calmed tide, • 15 

Mad Insolence beneath the flood sinks low : 

But ne'er Porphyrin's savage breast. 

Whose law was force, thy gentle pow'r contest. 

Yet soon he saw, his mad attempts how vain ; 

The voluntary gift is far superior gain : 20 

e. 1. 

Time and avenging Pow'r confound 

Pride and her lawless sons ; 

The vast Typhceus falls to ground, 

Jove's vollied thunder stuns 

His hundred giant-heads ; Apollo's dart 25 

Pierces the tyrant-monster to the heart. 

That god with fav'ring hand 

Our hero o'er the Delphic land 

To Glory leads, his brows with laurel crown'd, 

While loud the Dorian songs ot victory resound. 30 

s. 2. 
This ever-favour'd isle 
Still shares the eternal smile 

V. 20. The voluntary.] This alludes to something I have never seen satisfactorily ex- 
plained. The instance seems abruptly introduced, but Pindar's meaning I conceive to be, 
" that Peace and Justice will in time prevail over lawless Force : that the sons of Force the 
gods destroy, but the hero of the ode, a son of Peace, Apollo leads to glory." 

V. 26. Pierces the tyrant.] Porphyrion, Alcyoneus, or Ephialtes : it seems uncertain 
which was meant. 



193 

Of each celestial Grace; here ever dwells 

Justice, whose steady hand 

Protects her much-lov'd land, 35 

Which in each ancient virtue still excels. 

That glory, which in earlier days 

Rose o'er the helm of iEacus, still plays 

With beams unquench'd on all the martial line, 

And Victory's brightest wreaths on many a hero shine. . 40 

A. 2. 

Their ever-honour'd name 

The golden trump of Fame 

Speaks loud to men. Time bids my Muse respire 

Nor to their various praise 

Unceasing pour her lays ; 45 

Her voice would fail to charm th' exhausted lyre ; 

Attention o'er the wearied string 

Sated would nod. But Glory's new-fledg'd wing, 

Champion ! thy fresh-blown laurels bears on high 

And as she soars she sings thy triumphs to the sky. 50 

E. 2. 

Th' athletic contests with bright crown 
Thy kindred heroes grace. 

V. 52. Thy kindred."} Theognetus and Ctytomachus, 
C C 



19 h 

Thy steps pursue the high renown 

Which beams on all the race. 

They with strong limbs the garland grasping held 55 

High o'er th' Olympian and the Isthmian field. 

Such praise, as gave the seer 

When he foresaw full many a spear 

Flash o'er the walls of Thebes and o'er her plains 

Grim War his horrors roll, such praise thy valour gains ; 60 

s. 3. 

The far-off-rising host 

Who for their fathers lost 

Resumed the sword of vengeance, he addrest ; 

a The spirit of the sire 

M Revives with recent fire 65 

" To warm his genuine offspring's martial breast. 

u Lo, where I see Alcmanes wield 

u Blazon'd with impress dire, his glitt'ring shield, 

V. 57. Such praise, as.] The praise given by Amphiaraus long before, Pindar now applies 
to his hero, i. e. " that he was illustrious above others in renewing the glory of his race." 
This manner of comparison often occasions an obscurity not to be avoided in the translation, 
which, in the present instance, is still increased by the poet's digression. If the sentence 
had ended sooner, it would have been more intelligible. There seems to have been a chapel 
or some monument sacred to the memory of Alcmanes, near Pindar's residence: hence he 
catches at the opportunity of preparing a garland to adorn it. Alcmanes seems purposely 
mentioned at first for the sake of introducing soon after, a poetical fiction, that as Pindar was 
going to Delphi he heard a prophecy from this Alcmanes, whose shade was endowed with the 
art of his father Amphiaraus. 



195 

" A various-colour'd dragon ; at the gate 

" Of Thebes in front he stands and vengeance hurls and fate. 70 

a. 3. 
" Adrastus, now no more 
" The hapless lot deplore 
" Which fell destructive o'er thy former host ; 
" Fill thou the lonely urn 

" With thy son's dust ; return 7 ^ 

" With strange reverse of fortune, for the lost 
" Mourning in victory. From heav'n 
" (Whence mid the universal wreck was giv'n 
" Safety to thee alone) now glorying comes 
" A bird of happier wing and to their native homes SO 

e. 3. 
" The troops in jovial triumph sends." 
Thus spake the reverend seer s 
Hence my triumphal song attends 
Alcmanes ; glad I bear 

V. 71. Adrastus, wow.] Pindar is not content with the praise given to Alcmanes, but goes 
on with what befel Adrastus. That chief had before escaped himself with the loss of his 
troops, but now he gains the victory with the loss of his son. See Index on Adrastus. 
Heyne often calls out " such a passage requires a diviner not an interpreter," where the 
obscurity arises perhaps only from a bold image. But it is the difficulty of tracing and ex- 
hibiting the train of thought through all these dark histories and fables, that has given the 
translator the most trouble. To show the connection here and in other places, it has been 
deemed no improper liberty to express more fully what the original seems to imply only. 



196 

Fresh garlands breathing sweets his fane around, 85 

Which neighb'ring stands and ever guards my ground. 

Lo, while the central shrine, 

Whence flows the Pythian voice divine, 

I sought, he glided from his tomb ; forth-brake 

Strange sounds, his father's art in him reviving spake. 90 

s. 4. 

Sweet the prophetic voice 

Which bade our souls rejoice 

With brilliant hopes, but Phoebus gave success, 

Whose ever-holy ground 

Invites the nations round ; 95 

With awe they hear, with wonder they confess 

His oracles divine. Thy hand 

Apollo late within his native land, 

While loud thy praises swelPd the festal strain, 

To glorious triumph led this champion of the plain. 100 



V. 90. Strange sounds.'] The original expresses Alcmanes as a neighbour to Pindar and 
actually meeting him with the prophetic art of his father. I despaired of making this intel- 
ligible in a literal translation. 

V. 91. Sweet the.] What it was we are left to conjecture. I conceive it was success to 
the hero, and translate accordingly. 

V. 97. Thy hand.'] He was victor in games sacred to Apollo, in yEgina, therefore the poet 
describes Apollo as giving him success. 



197 

a. 4. 

And may thy rays divine 

With equal favour shine 

On ev'ry chord that strings my well-tun'd lyre ! 

For as the sweet notes play 

'Tis Justice pours the lay, 105 

Truth stands beside and lights a purer fire. 

Heav'n, for our hero hear our pray'r, 

And for his sire ; to each extend thy care, 

To thee that care belongs ; when mortals rise 

To wealth unearned by toil, the vulgar deem them wise, 110 

By pow'r their own they seem to stand ; 

But 'tis the will of heav'n 

Which guards us ; to no human hand 

That sacred shield is giv'n. 

The gods their various lot mete out to all, 115 

At their high nod these rise and others fall. 

Hero, thy native land 

Beheld thee crown'd by Juno's hand ; 

And Megara and deep-valed Marathon 

Twined their triumphal wreaths which o'er thy temples shone. ISO 

F. 117, Hero, thy native land.J In games sacred to Juno. 



198 

s» 5* 

On thy late glorious day 

The heroes vanquish'd lay, 

Their shatter'd limbs confess'd thy mightier pbw'r; 

O'er thee bright chaplets glow. 

They with dejected brow , ^ 

Their joyless sentence hear and rue the hour 

Which looks upon their shame, which sends 

Four humbled champions to their sorrowing friends; 

No mother's smile sweetens their sad return, 

From foes they trembling skulk, wounded with shame they burn. ISO 

a. 5. 

But precious above gold 

The flying wreaths unfold, 

Which Strength and Valour round their hero fling. 

His new-born glories rise 

Resplendent to the skies 1^5 

Beyond hope ; Joy triumphant lends her wing. 

Yet transient is the smiling hour 

When man's prosperity puts forth her flow'r, 

With rip'ning blush of fruit to-day she's crown'd, 

Dash'd by to-morrow's blast those honours strew the ground. 140 



199 



e. 5. 



What's man ? Poor reptile of a day. 

Dream of a fleeting shade, 

Mere nothing : is he aught ? away, 

If aught, he soon shall fade. 

But when Jove smiles, cheer'd by the vernal rays 145 

Sweet breathes his life, serenely glide his days. 

Lov'd isle ! thy people rear 

Beneath thine own maternal care 

And Freedom's wing. Ye guardian sires, from Jove 

To great Achilles, shield the race with never-failing love ! 150 



PYTHIAN ODE IX. 

TO TELESICRATES, OF CYRENE, WHO WON THE RACE IN 

ARMOUR. 



8. 1. 

VICTORY clad in brazen arms 

Thund'ring swift my bosom warms. 

The Graces girt with broider'd zone, 

Great Telesicrates, their crown 

Have twined around thy honour'd brow ; 5 

Thence Glory's beams their brightest lustre throw 

On thy lov'd country, whose distinguished name 

Cyrene gave, a nymph of ancient fame ; 

Her, as she rang'd the heights of Pelion o'er, 

Where loud the wild blasts roar, 10 

Apollo seiz'd. Off-roll'd 

On flashing wheels his car of gold. 

Late huntress, now queen of a lovely land, 

O'er fruitful Libya's sheep-clad plains she stretch'd her sceptred hand. 



201 



A. 1. 



Before the heav'n-built car was seen 15 

Smiling love's silver-footed queen 

In haste her Delian guest to greet 

With hospitable welcome sweet ; 

Her light hand on the chariot laid. 

She breathes a lovely blush around the maid, 20 

The timid blush of shame, to grace her charms, 

The sweeter transport for his longing arms. 

Great Hipseus is her sire, whose potent sway 

The Lapithae obey. 

(From Ocean was his birth, £5 

Creusa daughter of the earth 

To Peneus bore him, Pindus' shady heights 

Their couch prepared, the soft, ambrosial dear delights 



T. 15. Before the heatfn-built.] This reminds me of a passage in Statius, Theb. Ill . 26S P 
which Collins seems to have had in view : 

** Thy form from out thy sweet abode 
O'ertook him on his blasted road 
And stopp'd his wheels," &c. 
Thus torch from torch catches the brilliant flame. 

V. 17. Her Delian guest.] For Pindar calls this the garden of Venus, the goddess of every- 
thing that is sweet, graceful, and beautiful. 

V. 20. She breathes.] Virg. JEn. I. 594. Venus breathed on iEneas the purple light of 
youth, &c. that he might captivate Dido. Pindar's idea seems still more delicate. 

D d 



202 



E. 1 



Of love deep-shrouding.) His paternal care 

Cherisk'd the young Cyrene fair. 30 

She nor pass'd the tedious day 

Guiding the shuttle's mazy way 

Nor with her equals gave to social feast 

The cheerful hours ; but 'gainst the rav'ning beast, 

Whose steps with carnage stain the royal fields, 35 

The spear she darts, the flashing falchion wields 

And strikes the savage dead. 

Again the wings of Peace are spread 

And vales and flocks secure ; then sweetly close, 

Till peeps the blushing morn, her eyes in short repose, 40 

s. 2. 
The quiver'd God the Virgin saw 
Dare the huge lion's hideous jaw 
Opening in thunder ; not a spear 
To guard her, not a comrade near. 



V. 43. Not a spear.] By this Pindar increases the wonder, bringing the heroine to a closer 
engagement with the lion ; we must suppose she attacks him with the sword. Spenser in 
his animated descriptions often resembles Pindar. See F. Q. 1, 6, 24. 
" His trembling hand he would him force to put 
Upon the lyon and the rugged bear — 

- he would learn 

The lyon stoop to him in lowly wise." 



203 

The noble ardour of her breast 45 

Astonish'd Phoebus saw and loud addrest 

The Centaur ; " instant, rev'rend Chiron, come, 

" Leave thy deep-vaulted chamber's solemn gloom ; 

" A nymph, whose soul springs with enliv'ning fire 

" Above all toils, admire : 50 

u No blast of freezing fear 

u Chills her firm heart; those eyes, that glare 

" Fierce as heav'n's bolt, she meets % what sire on earth 

" Hail'd the blest child his own, what mother gave her birth ? 

A. 2* 
" Deep in the mountain's hollow gloom 55 

" Of arching branches is her home ; 
" Health ever-fresh with vigour feeds 
" Her glowing heart to glorious deeds. 
" Will Fate allow these longing arms 

" On love's soft couch to grasp her blooming charms 60 

" And crop the sweet-breath'd flow'r '?" The Centaur mild 
Relax'd his awful brow and answ'ring smil'd ; 
" When wise persuasions that soft passion move, ... 
" The sacred keys of love 

" Must glide with secret art 65 

ic Through each close winding of the heart : 
" For gods and mortals blush aloud to name 
" Th' initial rites of love veil'd by the hand of Shame. 



204 



e. 2. 

u And dost thou, great Apollo, condescend 

** Meek to address me as a friend ? ™ 

" Dost thou, -whom Falsehood comes not nigh, 

" Her birth enquire ? whose piercing eye 

" Sees all events, traces each secret way, 

" Beholds each leaf that trembles on the spray 

" Fann'd by the breath of Spring ; the sands, where glide 75 

" The foaming rivers, where the hasty tide 

" Rolls their vast banks or where 

" The rude blasts whirl them through the air, 

" Observes and numbers ; all things, as they rise 

" Far in succession, views and their dark birth descries? 80 

s 3. 
" May Chiron dare then to disclose 
u Events thy prescience better knows ? 
u From this fair valley by thy side 
u Far o'er the waves the blushing bride 

u New to the pressing arms of love B5 

" Attends thee to the garden of great Jove. 
" A Theran colony there waits her reign 
" Where castled cliffs survey the ambient plain, 

V. 73. Sees all events*] This is for an Heathen very excellent, but compare it with Ps. 139. 

How does it then hide its diminish'd head i 
V. 88. Where.} At Cyrcne, built on a hill. 



205 

" There wide-valed Libya shall her doors unfold 

" Glitt'ring with burnish'd gold, 90 

" Glad that th' illustrious bride 

" Deigns in her regions to reside, 

" By her own laws in equity to reign, 

" Whose forests teem with beasts while Plenty crowns her plain* 

A. 3. 

" A child she bears, the mighty birth 95 

u Hermes receives and to the earth 

" Presents and to the Seasons fair, 

" Who on their bright thrones rule the year | 

<c The child upon their knees they seat, 

" Prepare th' inviting feast and bid him eat ' 100 

" The food of Gods, ambrosial sweets, and sip 

" HeavVs richest nectar with empurpled lip. 

u Soon shall his friends hail him with partial love, 

" A Phoebus or a Jove ; 

" From growling monsters slain 105 

" In forests' gloom, and on the plain 

« From nibbling flocks he takes his mighty name." 

He spake : Apollo's heart glows with a fiercer flame. 



V, 107. From nibbling flocks.] Aristaeus, whose birth Pindar describes with all the grace- 
ful ornaments of poetry. Being afterwards so famous in his rural employments, the poet 
elegantly describes him at birth presented to the Earth and the Seasons, or the Hours. 



206 



£.3. 



Immediate is the act of gods ; the way 

Short where they hasten. That same day ! 10 

Ardent with love his arms infold 

In Libyan chamber rich with gold 

The beauteous nymph. She o'er Cyrene reigns 

Whose valour oft the hard-earn'd chaplet gainso 

Thither our hero wreaths of laurel brings 1 15 

Fi?om Pytho : loud the voice of triumph sings. 

Glad Fortune in her hand, 

Presenting to his native land 

Her Champion, leads him through the virgin- trains, 

Who, as they throng around, with beauty deck the plains. 120 

s. 4. 

The Muse great virtues ever tire 

In copious strains t' exhaust her lyre, 

But wise men listen to her lays 

If light she touch the notes of praise. 

Like her the happy moment found 125 

Seize, and each effort be with glory crown'd. 



V. 121. The Muse great.] Pindar in his last epode might seem to be preparing to enter 
at large upon the praise of his hero, whose virtues would induce him to be warm and copious j 
but he checks his Muse, telling her to touch lightly and to take care to use the proper time. 



207 

Thus Iolaus watch'd the fav'ring hour, 

Through all her portals Thebes confess'd his pow'r, 

His sword beheld quick-glancing strike the blow, 

Down fell her dreaded foe. ISO 

Then in the hollow ground 

Beside Amphitryon's sacred mound, 

Whose strong arm rein'd the steed, his bones repose. 

He, where white coursers prance, at Thebes his mansion chose. 

a. 4. 
To him at once and thundering Jove 135 

Mix'd in the pleasing toils of love 
Her twins of fame Alcmena bore. 
Who, where the waves of battle roar, 
Triumphant rise. Nor sense, nor fame, 

Nor pow'r of speech has he, whose lips the name 140 

Of Hercules ne'er breath'd, whose soul not knows 
To sing the banks where silver Dirce flows. 

V. 127. Thus Iolaus.'] He obtained leave to rise from the regions of. the dead for one day 
only ; in that short time, however, he killed the tyrant Eurystheus. Pindar recommends to 
take the right season and use it properly. This example also recommends what Pindar par- 
ticularly exhibits, that force which expresses much in a short space. Still there is great 
difficulty in tracing any connexion. If, as it has been conjectured, the hero had been victor 
in the games sacred to Iolaus and Hercules, all is beautifully connected and clear. The poet 
himself snatches the opportunity as he recommends, with exquisite delicacy sliding into the 
mention of Iolaus and Hercules. 

V. 134. He."} Amphitryon, who retired to Thebes, where he died. 

V. 135. To him at once."] Amphitryon. 

V. 137. Her twins.'] Hercules and Iphiclus, who was father of Iolaus, 



208 

To glory there the valiant youths aspire 

Warm with heroic fire. 

They heard my vows and bound 145 

Their wreath our hero's brows around. 

To them I sing. Ye Graces heav'nly bright 

Descend and o'er my soul pour your celestial light* 

e. 4. 

The triple wreath, Cyrene's hero brings, 

The Muse of triumph gladly sings j 250 

For fame not silence is the meed 

That shall to godlike feats succeed. 

Silent, inglorious let the vanquish'd stand ; 

Not breath of friends, our hero's deeds demand 

Praise from all tongues : the sage bids our hearts glow 155 

With love of worth ev'n in our hated foe. 

Hero, Minerva's day 

Oft saw thee bear her prize away; 

The virgins' silent look their wishes shows, 

To hail thee for their son the matrons pour their vows* 160 



V. 145. They heard my.] I have expressed what I conceive to be implied. Being of the 
same country he may well be supposed to feign he put up prayers to these deified heroes. 

V. 149. The triple zvreaih.] He gained three victories ; at iEgina, at Megara, and Pytho j 
the last being the victory now recorded. 

V. 155. The sage bids,] Nereus. It was a maxim of his. 

Vt 157. Minerva's day*} In games sacred to Minerva. 



209 



s. 5. 

Full oft deep-bosom'd Earth thy fame 

Witness'd and oft th' Olympic game. 

Contending in thy Country's eyes 

Glory to thee assign'd her prize. 

Is there, who thirsts with new desire 165 

To taste the nectar of the breathing lyre ? 

Again shall Glory wake my glowing hand, 

Once more the song thy ancestors demand, 

Again I strike the chords. With beauty fired, 

With ardent love inspired, 170 

To Irasa they came 

And each confess'd his glowing flame, 

The royal Barce's charms all bosoms warm, 

All eyes with rapture gaze, for wondrous is her form. 

a. 5. 

Each chieftain's heart impatient glows 175 

To crop the virgin-flow*r that blows 

V. 161. Full oft.] In games sacred to the Earth. 

V. 165. Is there."] Pindar being now about to digress to his hero's ancestors, first prepares 
his reader. 

V. 171. To Irasa.] A Libyan city, of which Antaeus was king, an ancestor ofTelesi- 
crates. He recollecting how Danaus had married his daughters, resolved to imitate him. 

V. 173. The royal Bane's.] She was daughter of Antseus. 

e e 



210 

Rich with youth's golden crown. The sire 

Warm'd with ambition's haughtier fire 

For splendor burns, her blooming charms 

Would plant within some hero's glowing arms, 180 

Searching the mould'ring scroll of ancient years 

He sees, how Danaus in one day prepares, 

Leading in haste his numerous virgin4rain, 

To bind them in love's chain. 

Beside the goal they stand 185 

A splendid prize, fair Beauty's band ; 

Swift o'er the course contending lovers spring, 

Each marks his distant choice, while Rapture lends his wing. 

.E, «v. 

Antasus thus his blushing daughter led, 

Her bridal robe around her spread, 190 

The swiftness of each youth to prove 

Ere he may taste the sweets of love ; 

Where ends the course her station bade her take, 

Herself the goal, and thus the chiefs bespake ; 

" Who first can touch her robe, be his the prize." 195 

Swift at the word Alexidemus flies, 

The royal virgin's hand 

Seizes and through the warlike band 



211 

Exulting leads : flow'rs, leaves around they fling. 

Oft has the hero soar'd on Victory's bright wing. 200 



V. 200. On Victory's bright."] Pindar's figures are bold and admirable; but who would 
coldly examine all the reasons ? Who would attempt to analyze Virgil's thunder-bolt ? Per- 
haps there never was a figure more sublime than that which <( cloathes the horse's neck 
in thunder j" but who will explain it ? 



PYTHIAN ODE X. 

TO HlPPOCLEAS, OF THESSALY, VICTOR IN THE DOUBLE 

COURSE. 



S. 1. 

JH.AIL Lacedsemon, happy town! 

Hail, blest Thessalia, hail ! One sire ye own 

From whom deriv'd the great Herculean race 

Reflects on each a royal grace. 

But why this boast ? The voice of Fame 5 

Sounds in my ear high Pelinnaeum's name ; 

And Pytho wakes my lyre ; 

Aleva's sons, sons of a royal sire 

Call forth my Muse on raptured wing to rise 

And waft Hippocleas* name all^glorious to the skies. 10 



The difficuly of translating Pindar's genealogies is so great, that some allowance ought 
to be made. The victor seems to have been descended from Aristomachus, a descendant of 
Hercules. This race, branching into two, appears to have given kings to Lacedaemon and 
Thessaly. 

V. 6. Pelinnceum in Thessaly was the town of the hero. Aleva was an ancient king of 
Thessaly. This victory therefore gives Pindar an opportunity, from their mutual relation, to 
praise Aleva's sons. Being always giad of extending his commendations he mentions Lace- 
dsemon ; as to Hercules, any relationship to him he is ever glad to trace. 



213 

a. 1. 7 

Burning with a noble thirst 

The hero sprang to contest ; thundering burst 

Peals of applause th' assembled hosts around, 

Parnassus' heights return the sound ; 

Apollo heard his ardent vow 15 

And beckon'd Victory to bind his brow ; 

Foster'd by heav'nly pow'r 

Sweet ev'ry wish'd event bursts into flow'r 

Crowning each mortal toil. A god his guide. 

Aloft where trod his sire he takes a hero's stride 20 



To glory. Him in brass 

Olympia twice heard pass 

Thundering, a rapid whirlwind o'er the ground, 

And Cirrha saw him glide 

Her deep-sunk meads beside 25 

Swift as a meteor, till with laurels crown'd. 

May Fortune from her glitt'ring wing 

O'er each to latest days the wealth of glory fling ! 



V. 21. Him in brass.] Phricias, his father, victorious in the race in armour, 
V. 24. And Cirrha.'] Near the Pythian course. 
V. 28. O'er eack.'] The hero and his father. 



214 



Aught is there sweet that Greece bestows ? 

Around the sire, around the son it flows : &v 

Look not with envy, heav'n, but swell their sail 

With fav'ring gales, that never fail, 

That never change ! Caelestial pow'rs, 

Your choicest blessings pour in copious show'rs I 

Happy the man j whose name 35 

Lives in the sweet, recording voice of Fame; 

When swiftness^ strength and courage from the lays 

Of Wisdom's bard procure the golden boon of praise ! 

a, 2. 
Thrice happy Phricias ! happy sire ! 

Thy life sets glorious ; Fate prolong'd its fire 40 

Till thou shouldst see the Pythian splendors glow 
Around thy youthful hero's brow. 
Aspire no more. Rash hope to gain, 
What human foot ne'er trod, heav'n's brazen plain! 

Yet, far as mortal oar 45 

Can reach, thy bark has gain'd ; beyond thee roar 
Depths unexplored ; search we the wondrous way 
To th' Hyperborean realms, in vain o'er seas, o'er lands we stray : 

V. 43. Aspire no more.} By the following figures Pindar hints that the father and son 
gained such high honours that it would be impossible to attempt to go beyond them* 



215 

That far-sequcster'd ground 

The mighty Perseus found ; 50 

Guided by fav'ring heav'n th' attempt he dares, 

While fragrant clouds arise 

From breathing sacrifice, 

Ent'ring those glad abodes, the feast he shares ; 

Apollo bending from the skies 55 

Smiles as the shout ascends and bounding victim dies,, 

s. 3. 

No stranger to these happy plains 

The Muse from heav'n attends and oft she deigns 

Amid the lively-stepping virgin-quire 

To breathe the pipe and touch the lyre. QQ 

Their simple lives pleas'd to behold, 

Bright laurel wreaths, that glossy smile like gold, 

They bind their hair around, 

While festal cheer and melody resound. 

Disease and cramping Age dare never come 65 

To stain their joys unmix'd in that sequester'd home 



V. 50. The mighty Perseus.'] He went at the time they were engaged in sacrificing asses 
to Apollo. Pindar's epithet of golden to the laurel, in this place, can have no reference to its 
value as a prize. 



216 



a. & 



Which Peace, who guards the sacred ground, 

Far from the din of arms or toils has found, 

Safe from that Pow'r who strikes with vengeful hand : 

Nor Perseus to this happy land 70 

Unaided by Minerva came ; 

His heart breath'd ardour, Pallas fann'd the flame 

And to this distant plain 

Her hero led, nor, till the Gorgon slain 

Had grac'd his shield, forsook, whose horrid folds 76 

Of serpents strike to stone each stranger that beholds. 

e. 3. 

It was tli' all-ruling hand 

Of heav'n. At heavVs command 

All things must stoop. Here check thy wanton oar, 

My Muse, witli anchor'd prow 80 



V. 69. Safe from.'] Being innocent they dreaded not Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance. 

V. 74. Her hero led.~] Pindar's quick manner of relating one event after another, is apt to 
mislead those who are not well versed in all the mythological histories of the ancients. 
Diodorus places the Gorgons in Africa. This expedition succeeds the other. 

V. 75. The inhabitants of Seriphus, who were turned into stone by the sight of the 
Gorgon on the shield of Perseus. 

V. 79. Here check thy.'] There appears a similarity between the happy life described in 
s. 3, and the celebration of the hero's victory s. 4. Hippocleas also is said to have been des- 
cended from Perseus. See Greene. 



217 

The ridgy rocks below 

Smother'd in foam avoid, quit not the. shore. 

When culls the Grace those sweets she loves, 

For Glory, like the bee fromflow'r to flow'r she roves. 

s. 4. 
When now- she crowns our hero's brow, 85 

Sweet let the voice of praise harmonious flow 
From thousands, echoing round the mountain-side 
Whence bursts Peneus' whirling tide. 
A jovial choir, the young, the old 

Shall throng his wreaths of glory to behold, 90 

And list'ning to the tale 
The smiling virgin shall the conqueror hail. 
Heroes, 'tis yours to pant with glorious fire, 
The virgin to soft strains wakes the recording lyre. 

a. 4. 

Various our toils : with transient ray 95 

Occasion glimmers, seize the present day, 

Nor vainly search with far-projecting care 

Dark doubts that cloud the distant year : 

'Tis mine with instant warmth to prove 

My lyre returns the voice of social love 100 

V. 84. i. e. She will not dwell too long on one circumstance. 
V, 88. Peneus' whirling tide,'] Peneus was a river of the country. 

F f 



218 

Still listening to my friend ; 

For Thorax bade the Muse her car ascend 3 

The willing steeds he join'd with ready hand, 

Smiling alert she sprang t' obey the lov'd command, 

e. 4. 
Unpolish'd from the mines 105 

The ore of friendship shines 
Dubious till prov'd it blazes forth all-gold «, 
Thus trial speaks his mind 
With purest truth refined. 

Nor shall the brothers' praises die untold* 110 

Blest realm ! whose pilots good and wise 
Steer safe thy happy course when to the helm they rise. 



V. 102. For Thorax.'] A descendant of Aleva j at whose request Pindar seems to have 
written his ode, which he ends with a compliment to the brothers of Thorax, or of his hero. 
This he has the art to couch under a sentence pleasing to the whole people. 



PYTHIAN ODE XL 

TO THRASYDiEUS, A THEBAN YOUTH, VICTOR IN THE RACE. 

s. 1. 

DAUGHTERS of Cadmus hear my strain I 

Leucothea, hear me from the azure main, 

Reclin'd mid Naidsfrom thy couch arise! 

Bow from the starry skies 

Sweet Semele, forsake thy throne divine ! 5 

Before Apollo's sacred shrine 

Attend and with you lead that honour'd dame, 

Who great Alcides bore child of immortal fame ! 

a* 1. 

Near Melia's golden tripods greet 

Your hero, near the God's prophetic seat, 10 

Apollo calls : rise, ever-lovely band, 

And at the God's command, 

Fair heroines, Harmonia's daughters, come $ 

In praise of Pytho's central dome 

This ode being to celebrate a Theban, the poet invokes Theban heroines divine to attend 
at the temple of Apollo, where certain rites were performed to Melia and Ismenus, to which 
places was to be the triumphal procession j where was also an oracular seat. 



220 

Of Truth, while Evening draws her veil around, 15 

And holy Themis loud let your sweet voices sound. 

E. 1. 

Hark! from Cirrha's echoing plain 

Flies the glad, triumphal strain. 

And Thebes to hear thy honours told, 

Great Thrasydaeus, shall her gates unfold. 20 

Wak'd in their tombs, thy sires rejoice 

That Victory's thrice-repeated voice 

To Glory swells the distant sound 

Where ancient Friendship mark'd her chosen ground. 

s. 2. 
Arsinoe in that fertile land 25 

Shielded Orestes from the incestuous hand 
Of Clytemnestra, arm'd with vengeance dire 
Who slew his royal sire. 

Glaring the fell brass cleav'd the deadly wound. 
A second victim falls to ground, 30 

V. 17. Hark! from.'] Where this victory was gained. 

V. 22. That Victory's thrice.'] The third victory in the family. 

V. 24. Where ancient.] OfPhocis; the friendship was that of Pylades and Orestes. Near 
Phocis the victory was gained. Would the poet on that account alone express the place by 
saying, it was the land where a prince was once sheltered from tyrannic power ? Agamemnon, 
who returned victorious at the head of all Greece, is murdered ; his son for many years forced 
to live in obscurity. Is not here a strong image of what Pindar says concerning the dangers 
attending the great ? See s. 4. His hero and his father seem to have been men of an humble 
station, though distinguished by victories. 



221 

Troy's royal daughter ; she is doom'd to go 

A shade beside his shade to the dank realms below. 

a 2. 

What Fury fired thy maddening soul, 

Unnatural woman, to a deed so foul ? 

Thy victim daughter near the distant main 35 

By Dian's order slain ? 

Or did the wanton flame of lawless love 

Thy wand'ring heart to baseness move ? 

Such deeds of darkness stain the bridal name 

With ever-foul reproach and unextinguish'd shame. 40 

e. 2. 

Ev'ry tongue, to slander prone, 

Blazons the deed : on golden throne 

Exalted in thy country's sight 

Thou sitt'st the brighter object to invite 

The darts of Malice ; on the ground 45 

Creeping she meditates the wound. 

Amy else, when his long toils cease, 

Beholds her chief falPn in the arms of Peace 



P. 31. Troy'*.] Cassandra. See v. 50 of this ode, 
V. 47. Amyclee.'] See Index. 



222 



s. 3. 
Welt'ring in gore and with him slain 

Th' unheeded chauntress of prophetic strain. 50 

Enrich'd from Troy, her splendors sunk in firej 
His late triumphant sire 
Pale on the earth Orestes saw, and fled : 
Parnassus round his youthful head 

Stretch'd his protecting shade, till Vengeance rose 55 

And on the long-watch'd day crush'd his remorseless foes. 

A. 3. 
But whither run my steps astray 
Turn'd from the path direct, my purpos'd way 1 
Or tell me, Muse, what gale with sudden force 

Hath wafted from its course 60 

Thy skippet ? If the proffer'd splendid prize 
With silver gleam allure thine eyes, 
Quick-glancing let them search each flow'r that blows, 
And Glory twine the wreath to deck the victor's brows ; 

e. 3* 
To hail the son, to hail the sire, 65 

Strike, loudly strike thy sev'n-string'd lyre : 

V, 61. 1/ the proffer' d,"} After recalling his Muse to her subject, Pindar adds, "if you 
regard the reward given for the hymn, apply the flowers of speech in praise of the hero and 
his father ; and speak first of Olympic, next of Pythian victories." 



223 

Joy on her brow, let Fame arise, 

And waft their laurels thro' the admiring skies J 

Olympia saw the nimblest ray 

Of ever-beaming glory play 70 

Their chariots and their steeds around, 

Victorious as they thunder'd o'er the ground* 

s. 4. 
Stript for the course on Pytho's plain 
They dart, they pant and ev'ry sinew strain ; 

All Greece inglorious have they left behind 15 

Fleet as the winged wind. 
Grant, Heav'n, propitious to our modest pray'r 
Such fortune as our strength can bear ! 
For humble Life secure puts forth her flow'r 
Nor fears the threat'ning storms which shake tyrannic pow'r. ?0 

A. 4o 

The virtues born in lowliest place 

My bosom presses in a close embrace. 

The good on Joy's calm summit takes his seat 

Bless'd in a safe retreat, 

And smiles to see the envious shoot their darts, 85 

Recoiling back on their own hearts : 

His honor fades not in the dreary gloom 

Of Death, but o'er his sons gleams from the murky tomb. 



224 

e. 4. 

That noblest of bequests, a name 

Unstain'd he leaves and dear to Fame. 90 

Transported on her pinions rise 

Heroes of ancient glory to the skies ; 

Great Iolaus and the two 

Who, ever changing, now below 

Therapne sink in night, now rise 95 

To golden mansions in the starry skies. 

V. 94. Who, ever changing.'} Castor and Pollux. 



PYTHIAN ODE XII. 

TO MIDAS, OF AGRIGENTUM, WHO GAINED THE PRIZE BY 
PLAYING ON THE PIPE. 



s. J. 

JO AIREST of towns, which mortal hand 

E'er rais'd, their destined hour to stand ; 

Lover of splendour ! stately seat 

Of Proserpine, crowning the hill whence bleat 

Descending flocks at distance seen 5 

To streak with snow thy river's margin green, 

Hear, queen of cities, hear my lays, 

Sweet Agragas, attend the voice of praise, 

With mortals smile, with gods look down 

On Midas, on the Pythian victor's crown 10 

Won from all Greece ! Minerva taught the art ; 

Who, when she heard the notes of woe 

From stern Medusa's sisters plaintive flow, 

The sounds to music tuned that wakes the answ'ring heart. 



V. 2. Their destined hour.'] I follow Benedictus ; for thus a just moral is in the original 
expressed in one word. 

G g 



226 

A. 1. 

'Twas Perseus gave the deadly wound, 1& 

And notes of sorrow breathed around 

From either snake-bee ur led head, 

Whose look petrific strikes beholders dead, 

While fall'n their sister they deplore, 

Vanquish'd and headless welt'ring in her gore ; 20 

The race of Phorcus blasted left 

In gloom, the feast of all its joy bereft, 

Seriphus' wave-wash'd shores around 

Pale forms of ghastly death overspread the ground ; 

Dreadful to sight the dauntless warrior stands 25 

And bids the tyrant-house deplore 

The base, detested chains his mother wore, 

The threaten'd, fore'd embrace ; pale horror arms his hands : 

s. 2. 
For, lo ! this son of golden showV, 

Bears the fair head, petrific pow'r. 30 

Propitious ever by his side 

Through all his toils attends his heav'nly guide, 
The maid who clashes bright in arms, 
And with her martial fire his bosom warms, 

V. 21. The face of Phorcus.'} 1 he :e three sisters, daughters of Phorcus, had but one eye 
between them. For the story see Index on Perseus. 

V. 28. 1 he threatened, fore'd.] Polydectes \v:ts about to compel her to submit lo his embraces. 



227 

She, while in mournful anguish flow 35 

From sad Euryale the notes of woe, 

Forms the soft pipe and bids complain 

In melting, tender, imitative strain ; 

To man presented the new wonder charms, 

Breathing through many a mazy round 40 

The sweetly- varied harmony of sound, 

And wak'd to Glory's call the thronging Myriads warms. 

a. 2. 
Through brass and reeds the soft notes flow, 
Reeds that ever-waving grow 

Below those tow'rs the Graces love, 45 

Beside the tangles of Cephisus' grove ; 
And lightly as the dancers bound 
The pipe attending joins its lively sound. 
If ever joy on mortals rise 

Long previous night of toil must wrap the skies. 50 

But if a god hold forth his hand, 
Instant the vessel gains the much-wish'd land. 
Fate reigns supreme, an unresisted power. 
Let not Despair with visage pale 

For ever chill the soul ; Time's veering gale 55 

May beyond hope the long-suspended blessing shower. 

V. 42. And wak'd to,} To give the name in English seems impossible. 

V, 45. Below those tow'rs.} Orchomenus, where musical instruments were first used. 

V. 49. If ever joy.'} For this reflection, in this place, no reason seems assigned worth notice. 



NEMEAN ODE I, 

TO CHROMIUS, OF JETNA, VICTOR IN THE CHARIOT-RACE. 

s. 1. 

vJRTYGIA, on whose placid breast 

Th' emerging floods of Alpheus rest, 

Sister of Delus, sacred seat 

Of chaste Diana's birth, her lov'd retreat ; 

Fam'd Syracusa's op'ning flow'r, 6 

From thee sweet-melting voices pour 

The fleet steeds' praise, their rapid force 

Proclaim, their flying feet, like whirlwinds o'er the course. 

T' iEtnean Jove from Nemea's plains we sing 

The car of Chromius borne on Victory's purple wing. 10 



West ingeniously supposes the triumphal procession to be made from Ortygia to ^Etna, 
where this hymn was to be sung in honour of Jupiter. To his explanation of the ode any 
addition of mine would be arrogance. He supposes the objects, as they occurred in the pro- 
cession, suggested the different descriptions in the ode. 

V. 9. T' jEtnean.] Jupiter was worshipped at ./Etna under the title of Jupiter ^Etneus. 
He also presided over the Nemean games, so named from Nemea, where they were 
celebrated. 



229 

A. 1. 

Founded by gods the structures rise 

Which raise his virtues to the skies ; 

On Glory's summit Fortune stands 

Scatt'ring her wreaths bright streaming from her hands ; 

And by her side th' immortal muse, 15 

Prompt to record the deeds she views ; 

Emit, blest maid, thy heav'nly ray 

And bid it o'er this isle with softest radiance play, 

This isle, the grant of Heav'n's eternal Lord 

To Proserpine, his nod confirm'd the sacred word 20 

E. 1. 

Which bade the goddess grasp with royal hand 

The sceptre of Sicilia's land, 

Crown'd with cities rich and great, 

Verdant with plains where flocks unnumbered bleat. 

He bade her warriors hold the brazen shield 25 

Flashing o'er th' embattled field ; 

Her youths, each conquer'd champion down 

Roll'd in the dust, assume Olympia's crown 

That beams like gold. Full-copious is my theme, 

Fiction is needless here, it but pollutes the stream* 30 



230 

s. 2. 

Chromius, thy hospitable door 

Unfolding, as I stand before, 

The spacious hall, the sumptuous feast 

Displays, ne'er clos'd against the stranger-guest. 

To worth like thine my grateful Muse 85 

Shall ne'er her song of praise refuse. 

Ev'n Envy sees her bick'ring fire, 

Whose flash would blast the good, in smould'ring smoke expire 

Quench'd by thy bounty. Each man has his art, 

Straight is the easy path when Nature prompts the heart. 40 

a 2. 

In strength, in action those excel, 

These in a soul that ponders well 

Deep, doubtful counsels, and surveys 

Far off the dark events of unborn days. 

Thy feats, great hero, warm my heart 45 

To pour the treasures of its art , 

Nor will I like th' unsocial soul 

Watch while secreted hoards on hoards increasing roll : 

For honour still the liberal hand attends 

Which shares the golden gifts of Fortune with his friends ; 50 



231 



e. 2. 

Life on each other's aid still bids us feed 

Our mutual hopes in mutual need. 

When virtue shews a summit bright 

The bard foresees increasing beams of light, 

Foresees wide-op'ning thro' th' unclouded skies 55 

Reveal'd the full-grown mass will rise : 

Such omen of his future fame 

Alcides gave, when first the infant came, 

Offspring of Jove, into the flash of day, 

While feebler by his side his mortal brother lay ; GO 

s. 3. 
© 

But nought escapes the jealous eye 

Of that great queen who rules the sky ; 

She rises from her golden throne 

In hasty wrath, two fiery serpents down 

She sends. They thro' th' unfolding door 65 

Swift-gliding, eager to devour, 

Soon as the saffron robes they saw 

Around the cradle spread, dart fierce with open jaw. 

The child entangled in their sliddering folds 

Here his first battle tries ; his head undaunted holds 70 

V. 53. When virtue.} The top is first seen; whence the hope that the whole will ap- 
pear in due time, 



232 



A. 3. 

Above them firm ; his strong hands clasp 

Each scaly throat ; they writhe, they gasp, 

Grip'd by resistless force they die ; 

Breathless at length outstretch'd the dire forms lie. 

At once transfix'd with sudden fright 75 

Each female shudder'd at the sight 

Who watch'd beside the royal bed : 

Instant the astonish'd queen, (her haste forgot to spread 

Her robe around her limbs) with terror wild 

Sprang on the hideous beasts and fondly clasp'd her child. 80 

e. 3. 


Glitt'ring the Theban chiefs in brazen arms 

Assembled at the loud alarms 

In-rushing like a flood : their Lord 

Amphitryon seizing in his hand a sword, 

Quick-brandishes the naked blade around, 85 

For deep the father feels the wound. 

In other's woe the tender heart 

May melt with pity while it shares the smart, 

Ah I what a heavier sorrow weighs us down, 

When for ourselves we groan, the misery all our own ! 90 

V. 81 . GhtOring the.} Pindar, a true poet, first tells us how Hercules killed the serpents ; 
it would have been tedious and cold else to have dwelt on these other circumstances. 



233 

s. 4. 

Astounded at the wondrous sight 

He stands, yet feels a mix'd delight, 

For brave, transcending Nature's course 

He sees the child, nerv'd with no mortal force, 

Th' eternal gods with guardian love 95 

The dreadful message told disprove. 

He calls the Seer to whom 'tis giv'n 

To talk with Jove, to read the dark decrees of heav'n. 

Tiresias to th' assembled Lords declares, 

Unerring Truth his guide, th' events of future years ; 100 

a. 4. 

What monsters of the sea or land 

Shall rue the vengeance of his hand. 

The insolent, the lawless foe 

Of human kind, who lifts his hated brow 

Stalking in pride, shall feel his force, 105 

Dash'd from his gripe, a lifeless corse. 

On Phlegra's plain the gods descend 

Against the giant-troops in battle to contend ; 

V. 96. The dreadful.] That the child was killed. 

V. 97. He calls the Seer.] Pindar seems to compare his hero to Hercules, himself to 
Tiresias, as he had spoken of his own foresight in a. 2 and e. 2. 
V 103. The lawless foe.] AntSBUS. 

H h 



234 

Shot with the lightning of his raging spear 

Their huge bulks fall, in gory dust trailing their radiant hair. 1 10 

e. 4. 
But Joy at length shall reign and labours cease. 
Years rolling smooth in endless peace ; 
In the blest mansions of the skies 
Crown of harsh toil he grasps the precious prize. 

Unvarying there the golden Seasons flow, 115 

Hebe with ever-smiling brpw 
To bless his arms, a beauteous bride, 
For ever young sits blooming by his side. 
Grateful he takes her hand, the gift of Jove, 
Th' eternal courts resound with strains of joy and love. 120 



V. 120. Strains of joy and love.] As Pindar began with comparing his hero to Hercules, 
we may imagine he here hints a wish that he may end his labours with equal happiness. 



NEMEAN ODE II. 

TO TIMODEMUS, OF ATHENS, PANCRATIAST. 



s. L 

xlOMERIC Muses, when they sing, 

Soaring aloft on golden wing 

Their proem tune to Jove ; 

His chaplet Timodemus found 

First-blown on Nemea's far-famed ground 5 

In Jove's own sacred grove, 

s. 2 
If in his fathers' steps he tread 
By Time to grace his country led 
With wreaths of bright renown ; 

Soon shall he rise where erst they rose 10 

And Pytho round his honour'd brows 
And Corinth bind her crown. 



V. 1. Homeric Muses. ,] Imitators of Homer. Pindar presages that this victory gained at 
Nemea, where Jupiter presided, would be the beginning only of honours, as Homer's imitator* 
began with Jove. 



236 



s. 3. 
Thus where the Pleiads fire the skies 
Orion's following splendors rise. 

With rival-glory glow 15 

Two heroes from the self-same land ; 
Ajax, dire Hector felt thy hand, 
And Valour crowns thy brow 

s. 4. 
Great Timodemus. Oft the name 

Of all thy tribe the voice of Fame 20 

Hail'd first on Glory's plain : 
Loud shouts of triumph, trembling round 
Parnassus' holy heights, resound 
The various wreaths they gain. 

s. 5 
Full many a garland o'er their brow 25 

Did Nemea, Corinth, Athens throw. 

V. 13. Thus where.'} It may mean that as Orion follows the Pleiads so the hero may be 
expected to follow his fathers' steps ; or that an Isthmian and Pythian victory will succeed 
this Nemean victory : it may also mean that as this country once produced Telamon, a great 
hero, thus she now produces another worthy to follow him. Pindar more than once intro- 
duces a sentence which may be interpreted different ways, at once painting to what has pre- 
ceded and what follows. 

V. 16. Two heroes.] Telamon and Timodemus, who seems to have been of Salamis, 
though called an Athenian, perhaps from his fathers. 

V. 16. The self-same land.] Salamis, which gave birth to Ajax, whose single combat with 
Hector is well known from Homer's Iliad. 



237 

See, Triumph leads the train ! 

Athenians, to your hero rise ! 

He comes- — to Jove, who rules the skies, 

Let Glory swell the strain I 50 



NEMEAN ODE III. 

TO ARISTOCLIDES, OF ^EGINA, PANCRATIAST. 

s. I. 

XI. AIL, Muse revered ! whose soft, maternal care 

Fosters the bard, thy votary hear. 

iEgina's hospitable isle 

This festal month expects thy fav'ring smile. 

The youthful artists of mellifluous lays, 5 

Where their belov'd Asopus strays 

Along the verdant meads, rejoice 

To list the sweet tones of thy heav'nly voice. 

Their various honors various acts require ; 

Bright Victory loves the sounding lyre, 10 

Before her stand the smiling Virtues crown'd, 

While sweet the notes resound. 

Pindar being about to celebrate a hero who had distinguished himself in every part of 
life, after saying his glory had reached the utmost limits, and obliquely comparing him to 
Hercules, under pretence of recalling his Muse to the praise of heroes of ^Egina (of which 
country was Aristoclides), falls into the celebration of Achilles, who was an hero born and 
Therefore like tne champion of the ode. 

V. 4. This festal month.'] In which the Nemean victory was celebrated. 

V. 6. Where their.~\ Asopus was a river near Nemea, says Heyne, where the poet sup- 
poses them to be in their procession from Nemea to ^Egina. 



239 



a 1. 

Daughter of Jove, dear Muse, thy bard inspire, 

Breathe on my soul thy purer fire, 

Loud let my hymn enraptured rise 15 

To Jove, whose sceptre awes the cloud-wrapt skies; 

Then while the full-resounding voices join 

The sweet-toned lyre, the task be mine 

Grateful to thee to pour my lays, 

Thy country's glory, and exalt thy praise^ 20 

Thine, mighty Champion, whose illustrious hand ~ 

To thy iEgina, far-fam'd land 

Of ancient Myrmidons, presents the crown 

Worthy their high renown. 

E. 1. 

Hard was the toil, and many a blow 25 

Furious gave th' assailing foe, 

But Glory heals each raging wound 

And throws her never-fading wreaths around. 

Thy actions prove thee great and brave, 

Worthy the form which Nature gave. 30 

The furthest verge of Glory's shore 

Thy prow has mark'd, expand thy sail no more* 

Content the confines of the world to gain 

Tempt not the boundless main. 



240 



s. 2. 

The godlike hero bade his columns there 35 

To future mariners declare 

" Here Nature ends ; let none dare roam 

" Beyond, where nought but darkling oceans foam." 

Th' enormous monsters, that infest the main, 

By his all-dreaded hand lie slain. 40 

His voluntary toils explore 

The seas, the creeks, wide earth's remotest shore 

Revealing all the wonders of the world. — 

Where roves my soul ? Her sail unfurl'd, 

Go, bid the Muse her wand'ring course retrace 45 

And sing of Peleus' race. 

a. 2. 
The flow'fs, that round the victor sweetly breathe^ 
Bright Truth, are thine ; no distant wreath 
Shall Fame explore on weary wing, 

Search not abroad, in his own line they spring; 50 

Pluck'd in her hand the Muse exulting shows 
What well becomes her champion's brows. 
The ancient Virtues all revere 
Peleus, great warrior of the far-famed spear, 

V. 35. His columns.] Hercules' pillars. 



241 

Whose single prowess shook Tokos' walls*. 55 

Thetis, each art exhausted, falls 

Into his arms. From Telamon's dread spear 

Troy's monarch learn'd to fear ; 

e. 2. 
Near Iolaus fierce he stands; 

Show'rs from the Amazonian bands qq 

(While flash with brass their twanging bows) 
Pour round ; unchilPd with fear his bosom glows ; 
Connat'ral valour warms his heart. 
To all the Virtues frigid Art 

Her wav'ring sons by precept trains, 65 

With foot infirm slidd'ring they tread the plains, 
By their pure streams allured approach the brink 
And sip but dare not drink. 

s. 3. 
Not so Achilles ; in his tender years 

His dignity of soul appears. 70 

Fame hails his actions great and brave, 
Such were his martial sports ev'n in the cave. 
A child, he shakes his puny-headed spear 
Rapid as the light-wing'd air ; 

V. 57. From Telamon's.'] Brother of Peleus. 

V, 69. Not so Achilles.] This is not mentioned for nothing. See v. 9 of a. 4. 

i i 



24.2 

Undaunted at the lion's roar 75 

Rushes and strikes ; he smites the savage boar 

And hales the gasping monsters with firm hand 

Back to his cave ; astonied stand 

The goddess of the chace and martial maid. 

Such valour he display 'd. 80 

A. 3. 

Each day beheld him matchless in his speed 

Pursue the bounding stag ; no need 

Of toils or hounds ; to seize the hind 

His light foot bears him fleeter than the wind. 

Nor one brave youth alone did Chiron train 85 

Panting for th' embattled plain ; 

Jason's heroic soul he form'd, 

Ardent the heart of iEsculapius warm'd 

To search the pow'r of herbs. 'Twas he who led 

Fair Thetis to her bridal bed. 90 

Her son his precepts arm, his soul inspire 

Warm with a patriot's fire, 

e. 3. 

Borne by winds the billows o'er 
Full against Troy's threatning shore 

V, 85. Nor one.'] This Pindar mentions to show Chiron's greatness. 



MS 

The rage and thunder to withstand 9£ 

Four'd from the Lycian, Phrygian, Dardan band, 

Memnon's dire ranks of spears to brave 

And deep this vow of vengeance grave 

On his firm heart ; " thou never more, 

" Sav'd from the carnage of Troy's purple shore 100 

ci Shalt on thy much-lov'd native land appear 

" Thy people's eyes to cheer." 

s. 4. 
Forth-beaming high from Peleus' race her rays 
Glory full-orb'd afar displays ; 

For, Jove 9 from thee, almighty king ! 105 

Themselves, their lineage and their honors spring ; 
Thine is the contest : hark, the youthful choir 
Chant to the loud responsive lyre 
The hymn, with sweetly-swelling voice 

Which bids triumphant this lov'd isle rejoice, 110 

And to Apollo consecrate their lays 
That speak his sacred hero's praise. 
'Tis Virtue's trial that true merit shows 
And crowns the champion's brows. 

V *. 1 12. Thai speak his."] This is easily accounted for, if we suppose the hero was one of 
the ministers who held an office sacred to Apollo, in 4£gina. 

V. 115. Man's ///<?.] The hero was distinguished in all parts of his life : whence the art- 
ful mention of Achilles, a hero in childhood ; for though he had the most famous preceptor 
yet his greatness Pindar attributes to his own soul. 



244 



a. 4. 



Man's life through different seasons varying grows, 115 

And each a diffrent virtue shows ; 

First blooms the spring; with vigorous fires 

Youth glows ; ripe manhood follows ; each requires 

Honors congenial to each changing age, 

As branching life unfolds : the sage \%Q 

Shows last his rev'rend hoary head 

With graver virtues crown'd : full honor shed 

These seasons all on thee — hail Victor, friend ! 

To thee this nectar'd cup I send, 

Where, mix'd with softiEolian sweets, the Muse ]g5 

Sprinkles her heav'nly dews. 

e. 4. 
What though full late my song arise ! 
Soaring half-lost above the skies 
The eagle dares the blaze of day 

And from Jove's throne pounces the far-seen prey; ISO 

Daws chatt'ring pick low grains in sight 
Dazzled beneatli his loftier flight. 



V. 127. What though full late.'] Pindar declares the lateness of sending the ode is compen- 
sated by its sublimity. There is a singular beauty in the idea of the " far-seen prey," since 
Pindar, unlike meaner poets, has celebrated the whole life of his hero, comparing him with 
others in a long train. 



■ 245 

Champion, high-throned in heav'n, for thee 

The Muse of Victory passed her fond decree ; 

And Glory looks in splendor down 135 

Upon thy threefold crown. 



V. 136. Upon,'] He gained a victory at Epidaurus and at Megara, besides this at 
Nemea. 



NEMEAN ODE IV. 

TO TIMASARCHUS, OF JEG1NA, VICTOR IN WRESTLING. 



MONOSTROPHIC. 



I. 

1 HE contest ends, the toils and perils cease. 
Joy spreads the healing wing of Peace. 
Sweet daughters of the sapient Muse 
The Odes soft-breathing pour ambrosial dews. 

As when to war-worn heroes grateful flows 5 

The bath's soft warmth, luxurious glow^ 
Each limb, from toil as they respire ; 
Such Glory's voice, that swells th' enchanted lyre. 
One day beholds the Champion's feats, his name 

Lives on th' expanded wings of Fame, 10 

Long-blest, if deep the Graces' tuneful tongue 
Pour from their soul the son^. 



To Jove, my Muse, begin th' exalted strain. 
Begin to Nemea's listed plain. 



247 

Hero, to thee with honor crown'd, 15 

Great Timasarchus, shall ray hymn resound. 

Grateful her swelling notes the sweet Muse pours 

Around iEgina's well-built tow'rs, 

There Justice from a lofty seat 

To strangers shines, a bright and safe retreat. 20 

Did but the Sun his genial lustre spread 

Around thy father's reverend head, 

How would he joyful raise to Nemea's plain 

The loud triumphal strain ! 

3. 

Those strains, while on the list'ning ear they breathe, 25 

"Would boast thy many a glorious wreath 

Grasp'd by the same victorious hand 

At Thebes, at Athens, on Cleonae's land. 

That sire, Amphitryon's hallow'd tomb around, 

With shouts the thronging Thebans crown'd SO 

With flow'rs and hail'd with joy his name, 

For from iEgina's much-lov'd land he came, 

A friend to meet his friends the Champion comes, 

Thebes opens wide her social domes ; 

V. 22. Around thy.'] Timocritus, his father, seems to have been at once a champion and 
skilled in the lyre. Among the Greeks music was highly esteemed. 

V. 29. Amphitryon's hallovfd tomb.'] Place of contest. 

V. 32. For from Angina's, ,] On account of the relationship between Thebes and iEgina. 
Seelsth. VIII. s. 2. 



248 

There, where the great Alcides left his name 35 

Living in endless fame. 

4. 

With him fierce Telamon oppos'd the walls 

Of Troy ; the ruin'd city falls. 

His pow'r the Meropes subdued, 

Him the gigantic monster shudd'ring view'd, 40 

Haley oneus, and falls ; Earth feels the shock ; 

But ere he sunk, a pond'rous rock 

By main force wrench'd in ruin whelms 

Twelve cars with rampant steeds and twice twelve helms 

Of warriors. Ever- varying is the course 45 

Of battle, stormy and wild his force, 

His champion now raising with laurels crown'd, 

Now spurning him to ground. 

5. 

But lo, the hours flitting on hasty wing 

Forbid in lengthen'd strain to sing, 50 

My theme forbids and warns me soon 

To deck my Muse to meet the new-born Moon. 



V. 52. To deck my Muse.] The new moon, the time of the approaching festival, required 
him to attend to his hero and not ramble from the point. From the wide subject of praise, 
which invited his Muse to speak of Hercules, he unwillingly withdraws. The action was 
but half sung ; but that he may not subject himself to the censures of the envious, he returns 
from his digression and then boldly defies Envy. The celebration of heroism among those 



249 

Half-unexplored the tempting billows roll, 

Quit their lov'd surface ; rise, my soul, 

And dare the day's aetherial light, 55 

Bid Envy skulking dive into the night, 

There hatch the dark thoughts of her rancorous heart, 

There sidelong aim her poison'd dart, 

While her fell soul anticipates the wound 

Exult, but strike the ground* 60 

6. 
Still let me cherish that dear art, which heav'n 
And ever-ruling Fate havegiv'n ; 
Still court the Muse; she sweetly cheers 
"With melody my youth and sinking years. 

Breathe, lovely lyre, the tuneful Lydian measure, 65 

Strike Muse the lively notes of pleasure. 
And hear, iEgina, hear each shore 
Where'er iEgina's heroes reign'd of yore ! 
Hear, Cyprus, from the deep that swells around, 
A throne where banish'd Teucer found ; 70 



by whom Timasarchus's father was received (s. 3.) reflects great honour upon him, inti- 
mating, he was not unworthy of those who could boast of even Hercules himself. This 
champion also came from a land proud of her heroes, the renowned race of i£acus. It is to 
be wished that critics of more sagacity had condescended to trace the digressions of our im- 
mortal Lyrist. 

V. 69. Hear, Cyprus.'} The heroes mentioned sprung from JEginz, In what follows I 
understand the poet to use the present time for the past. 

K k 



250 

Hear Salamis, who boast'st, high-honor'd land. 
Thy Ajax's sworded hand : 



Hear Leuce, where Achilles held li is reign, 

Gleaming above the azure main 

While snowy pinions fill the air; 75 

Fair throne of Thetis, lovely Pthia, hear, 

And thou, Epirus, o'er whose length of shore 

His mighty sceptre Pyrrhus bore, 

There one wide ridge of mountain, spread 

Across the land by herds unnumber'd fed, 80 

Dips in the foam that plumes th' Ionian wave % 

Iolcos, hear, which Peleus gave 

Destined to serve Thessalia's happier land 

Won by his warlike hand! 



V. 75. While snowy.'] Leuce, so called from innumerable herons always seen flying there, 
whose white wings gave the idea. The Greek word leuce means " white." 

V. 82. Iolcos, hear.] Iolcos was a town in Magnesia, of which Acastus was king. The 
reason why Peleus took it was as follows. Hippolyte, wife of Acastus, unable to captivate 
Peleus, accused him to her husband of attempting her honor. Acastus allured him into the 
forest unarmed, hoping he would fall a prey to the wild beasts, but the gods delivered him. 
He then took Iolcos. After this the sea-goddess used all manner of arts, assuming various 
forms, to evade him, or perhaps to try the force of his affection, for Pindar and other poets 
loved to paint human nature in their divinities ; Pindar as well as Milton knew who it is 
" That would be woo'd and not unsought be won." 

Virgil's prophet acts in a similar manner. E. 4. 441. 



251 



8. 

His death Hippolyte's revengeful heart 85 

Plotted with base insidious art, 

And by her wiles deceiv'd, her lord 

Bade lurking Vengeance close conceal the sword 

In ambush dark within a silent grove : 

But Chiron guards with watchful love ^° 

And prescient gives his soul to see 

What guardian Jove and pitying Fate decree. 

Now Thetis all her threat'ning forms prepares, 

And first th* all«conqu'ring fire he dares, 

Deep-op'ning next the lion's hideous jaws 95 

And fierce, sharp-rending claws. 

9. 

At length the lovely Nereid yields and down 

Steps smiling from her lofty throne 

And with her sweet, immortal charms 

Consents to bless the hero's raptured arms, 100 

Then round the festal board on seats of gold 

The kings of heav'n his eyes behold 

And of the deep. Their gifts they show'r 

On him and his descendants, wealth and pow'r. — 

But lo, my sails their utmost limit reach, 105 

Where western billows dash the beech ; 



252 

Steer back, nor dare those unknown depths explore 
Where boundless oceans roar. 

10. 
Vain were the toil, great iEacus, to trace 

The various glories of thy race. 110 

But gladly now the voice of Fame 
Hails in immortal strain Theander's name. 
Victory o'er all his sons her wings has spread 
Lighting on each distinguish'd head. 

The Herald of their just renown 115 

I bear th' Olympic, Isthmian, Nemean crown. 
Oft as to Glory's listed field they go 
Full sure to twine it round their brow : 
Through all the race the palm is never lost, 
Such their eternal boast. 120 

II. 

If Champion, for thy Callicles thou ask 

A column, glad I dare the task. 

Not Parian marble snowy-white, 

Gold from the fire emits not purer light 

Than glitt'ring structures of the Muse's hand ; If 5 

Time, as he flies, still sees them stand, 



V. 112. Hails.'] From Theander was derived the family of Timasarchus. 
V, 121. For thy Callicles.'] An uncle. 



253 

Deep-grav'd they bear the marks of praise 

And heroes high as mightiest monarchs raise. 

Let Callicles, while notes of triumph sound 

Thrilling through the hollow ground, 130 

Recall the hour, cheer'd in the realms below, 

When Corinth crown'd his brow. 

12. 

Well did Euphanes tune to him his lays, 

Breathing glory, sounding praise ; 

At once aspiring sons of fame 135 

On equal wing they soar'd, their years the same : 

At once both Champions dar«d the listed field, 

He best could sing, whose eyes beheld. 

Had he, Melesias, touch'd the lyre 

And kindled in thy praise its genuine fire, 140 

V. 130. Thrilling through.] For he was among the dead. 

V. 139. Had he, Melesias,'] If, after commentators of much greater sagacity have been 
unable to clear this passage, I may be allowed to conjecture, I would ask whether it may not 
be possible that here may be an allusion to some dispute in the contest. Suppose Melesias 
to be the unctor. This Euphanes, the grandfather, is celebrated as not sparing his opponents ; 
a man who would boldly speak the truth, and would therefore praise Melesias and thus 
decide the matter. Perhaps then Melesias had done something which the opposite party 
might conceive exceeded his authority. From the ode it may be concluded, that the victory 
was gained with great toil : the beginning is in praise of rest after toil. Again fin s. 2.) the 
poet instances in a contest attended with immense peril and toil, and speaks of the various 
success of battle at the very moment when he leaves that digression ; again at the end of the 
third antistrophe he mentions Peleus, who was not crowned with success till after various 
trials. I never can imagine all these things were introduced by this great poet at random. 
A difficulty still remains, how the uncle and grandfather could be cotemporaries. Suppose 



254 

Contention fading then had sunk in night z 
Invincible he took his flight, 
Warm to the good man did his bosom glow 
But sharp he pounc'd his foe. 



the father and mother married at the age of twenty, at which time the uncle might be forty. 
The grandfather might be only a year or two above forty when they married, and would thus 
be cotemporary with the uncle. 



NEMEAN ODE V. 

TO lampon's SON, PYTHEAS, PANCRATIAST, OF jEGINA. 

MONOSTROPHIC, 
1. 

JN O Artist I, who shapes with toiling hand 

The statue on its base to stand 

An unmov'd mass of lifeless stone. 

But spring, my Muse, spring from thy golden throne I 

With ev'ry sail that stretches o'er the seas, 5 

With ev'ry lightly-feather'd breeze 

That from iEgina flies, the name 

Of Pytheas waft to everlasting fame ; 

Proclaim great Lampon's son, 

Whose arm the Nemean garland won 10 

Ere yet his cheek the tender vernal bloom, 

Hope of th' autumnal strength of riper years, assume. 

The crown of glory, glitt'ring round his brows, 
Back on his sires fresh lustre throws ; 

Pindar was requested to celebrate this hero. The price he demanded would, they said, 
purchase a statue. They gave him however his price. He began accordingly. 



256 

Entomb'd those sons of heav'nly love, 15 

Offsprings of Saturn, iEacus and Jove, 

Partake the honors of this social shore ; 

His sires the gold-tress'd Nereids bore : 

Before the altar meek they stood, 

The land with hosts, with sails they cloath'd the flood. 20 

Their righteous pray'r could save 

Their people from the threat'ning grave. 

Pious they stretch their hands to list'ning Jove 

Who pitying shields his Greece with universal love. 

3. 

Such were Endais' sons ; such Phocus brave, 25 

Whose birth was near the rolling wave. 

Though grateful to the Muse's ear 

Jove's altar rais'd their solemn-breathing pray'r, 

Unrighteous deeds she shudders to behold ; 

Ne'er be the horrid story told, $0 

What terror drove them from this shore, 

What vengeful daemon urg'd in haste their oar. 

Ev'n Truth must watch her place 

Ere she unveil her honest face, 



r. 24. Who pitying.] Their prayers made the island populous and flourishing, and saved 
Greece from a drought. See Index on y£acus. 

V. 30. Ne'er be the.'] They killed Phocus and fled. 



257 

And Silence oft, knitting her sable brow, 3b 

The choicest wisdom hints that erring mortals know* 

4. 
But there, where Fortune waves her golden wing, 
The ready Muse delights to sing ; 
Brave feats, the glorious clang of arms, 

War's iron thunder all her bosom warms ; 40 

Light with elastic knee o'er highest mounds 
At once exultingly she bounds. 
Thus o'er the seas, above the skies 
Darting half-seen the high-poiz'd Eagle flies. 

How did her heav'nly voice* 45 

Great Pelion, bid thy heights rejoice 
When join'd harmonious by the sister-choir 
She sang ; with golden touch Apollo wak'd the lyre ! 

5. 
Soft through th' enchanted air in varying notes 

All-sweet the melting music floats. 50 

And first to heav'n's almighty king, 
Of Thetis and of Peleus next they sing 5 

V. 37. But there.'} After saying he* would omit every thing of a gloomy nature, as is 
his custom, and every thing to the disadvantage of Peleus's character, but that he was ready 
to celebrate the splendid fortunes of heroes, Pindar now speaks of the wedding of Peleus 
and Thetis. From the action, to which a full relation of the history naturally led him, he 
takes a bound to this more engaging part of his life. 

L 1 



258 

And how Acastus' queen with wily art 

(While wanton love enflaraed her heart) 

The guardian of the state deceived ; 55 

Too credulous her royal lord believed 

All her false tongue declared ; 

" Aspiring that this Peleus dared 

" Magnesia's queen with flatt'ring speeches move 

" From her high throne to stoop to his adult'rous love." 60 

6. 
Such her device, but false the specious tale ; 
For nought could love's soft glance prevail 
Or luscious breath of warm desire, 
Though all her soul dissolv'd with am'rous fire ; 

Disgustful those fond flatt'ring words of love 65 

Vex his pure heart, his anger move. 
He hears not, but with pious fears 
The god of hospitality reveres. 
High-throned above the skies 

Well-pleas'd the father turns his eyes, 70 

Deep-wrap'd in cloud sees all, and to his arms 
With fav'ring nod assigns a splendid Nereid's charms : 



V. 65. Disgustful those.'] This whole account has been observed in many circumstances to 
resemble the history of Joseph. The drought, the piety which saved the country, the re- 
fusal to comply with the queen from a fear of displeasing Jupiter. What shall we say of the 
murder of Phocus ? A mistake may easily be admitted. Moses killed a man and fled. 



259 



Neptune, her golden distaff laid aside, 

At Jove's request presents the bride ; 

Nor does the sov'reign of the main 75 

Alliance with a mortal man disdain i 

From Mgsd oft, calPd by the voice of Fame 

When she proclaims the Isthmian game, 

That pow'r attends, all-cheerful stand 

To hail their god with tuneful reeds the band. 80 

All for the contest burn. 

To each his wreath from Fortune's urn 

At birth was drawn, that wreath their temples crown'd ; 

Hence to Euthymenes the varying hymns resound ; 

8. 
Round him immortal Victory smiling throws SB 

Her arms, the raptured champion glows. 
Glory relumes iEgina's shores 
And all the lustre of his race restores. 
Pytheas at Nemea won the wreath of fame 
And at Apollo's sacred game. 90 



V. 82. To each his wreath.] Each was born with those powers which afterwards were 
crowned with victory. See note on Olympic VIII. e. 1. 
T. 84. Hence to Euthymenes*} Uncle of Pytheas. 
V. 90. Apollo's sacred.} IniEgina. 



:-h 



260 

To him at home all rivals yield, 

To him at Megara's deep-bosom'd field* 

I see the glorious fire 

From breast to breast thy sons inspire, 

Blest isle, with thirst of fame. But, champion, know 95 

Menander rais'd the fruit of toil ; and o'er thy brow 

9. 
Fair Fortune's hand the blooming garlands bound. 
Where but at Athens can be found 
An artist, whose ingenious care 

Can for the contest each brave youth prepare ? 100 

But if Themistius claim the song of praise, 
Arise, sweet Muse, and tune thy lays, 
Exalt thy voice ; thy swelling sail 
Fearless extend ; the glorious champion hail, 

Twice-glorious shout his name, 105 

His art, strength, valour give to Fame ; 
Tell how the gold-hair'd Graces lent their aid 
And, iEacus, thy fane his verdant wreath display'd. 



V. 96. Menander rais'd.'} The unctor, an Athenian. 
V. 101. But if Themistius.'} The hero's grandfather. 
V. 108. And t j£acus, thy fane.'] In Mgina, where he used to hang his crowns-. 



NEMEAN ODE VI. 

TO ALCIMEDAS, OF jEGINA, WRESTLER. 

s. 1. 

JL HE Gods above and mortal men below 
To one all-bearing mother owe 
The breath of life ; but while they rise 
On PowVs distinguish 'd pinion o'er the skies 5 

The poet begins with much obscurity. It is not indeed possible for any one to write 
clearly on a subject upon which he has no clear notions. This was certainly the case when 
the Heathens attempted to write of the origin of men and gods. It is impossible to find a 
clear account among them of this matter ; it is even difficult to state any one opinion of theirs 
which does not branch into some inconsistency. Pindar's words literally are, " one is the 
race of men, one of gods, but we breathe both from one mother." This sentence has been 
translated two opposite ways; " Unum idemque," &c. and " unum hominum, alterum 
deorum genus, ex una autem," &c. — Pindar, if he thought alike at all times, supposes Time, 
or rather perhaps Eternity, to be the origin of all things, probably of Gods likewise. See 
Olympic Ode II. e. 1. That the mother contributed little in generation seems to have been 
a common notion. Thus Orestes in Eurip. 

" My father was the author of my being, 
Thy daughter brought me forth : he gave me life, 
Which she but foster'd," Sec. See y£sc. Furies. 
" The mother's pow'r produces not the offspring." This is put into the mouth of 
Apollo himself. Pindar's meaning then seems to be, that although men and gods are born of 
the same mother, still they are different in kind, their power and duration different ; yet in 
the soul we resemble them : it is the soul that raises one man above another. Thus in the 
same race the different energies of soul distinguished the men, elevating some to be heroes 
little inferior to gods, while others remained unnoticed. 



262 

Where fix'd on ever-during brass his throne 5 

Each takes pre-eminent and down 
On mortals looks, we reptiles fade 
Feeble and meagre to an empty shade. 
We still approach them in our nobler part 

Th' exalted soul, the gen'rous heart. 10 

Yet billowy clouds all day, all night 
In ever-thickening darkness damp our sight. 
By fate is fix'd our course^ but where the goal- 
Is hidden from our soul. 

a. 1. 

And thus, Alcimedas, thy honors shine 15 

All-great, all-noble, all-divine. 

Glory delights throughout thy race 

Now to conceal and now unveil her face, 

Ev'n as the field presents a changeful scenes 

Now with its annual tribute green 20 

Swelling for man ; now shorn and bare 

Gath'ring by rest strength for the rising year. 

Now favouring Fortune on thy steps attends, 

For guardian Jove the goddess sends ; 



V. 5. Where.'} Thus the address to Christ, " thy throne, O God, is for ever." Instead 
of which who can bear the senseless, if not impious translation, " God is thy throne ?" See 
improved version of the New Testament, Heb, 1. 8. 



263 

Glory, that slumber'd long 1 , again 25 

Beams forth ; o 5 er Nemea's much-lov'd plain 
Slie guides thee through the contest's perilous way 
With ever-gleaming ray ; 

E. 1. 

There, champion, where thy mighty grand-sire led. 

Following art thou seen to tread 30 

Along the glorious steeps of Fame, 

True as the hunter tracks his game. 

That grandsire first the honors wore 

Which bright from Alpheus' banks he bore ; 

Thrice Nemea witness'd his renown, ?* 

Five times he wore the Isthmian crown ; 

Oblivion now no more ignobly throws 

Her dark'ning veil around Socleides' brows i 

Join'd with the mighty son's resounds the father's name 

Loud in the notes of Fame. 40 

s. 2. 

From one great ancestor three champions rise 
To Virtue's summit o'er the skies. 

V. 41. Three champions. 1 See the order of the genealogy, otherwise Pindar's words will 
seem involved in utter darkness. 1. Agesimachus ; 2. Socleides ; 3. Praxidamas ; 4. Theon ; 
5. Alcimedas himself. In this family heroism shone out and was eclipsed by turns. There- 
fore the three heroes were Alcimedas, Praxidamas, and Agesimachus. Socleides in the epode 
was mentioned as receiving honor merely from his son. 



264: 

Full well the taste of toil they know 

And Jove and Fortune smile with fav'ring brow. 

Search to the utmost verge of Grecian ground, 45 

Each nook explore ; where can be found 

So many champions, on whose head 

Honor and Victory their garlands spread, 

Rais'd from one noble stock ? Smite loud the lyre$ 

Rise on expanded wings of fire, 50 

Send forth, my Muse, from raptured heart 

With sounding bow thy warmest, strongest dart 

Of harmony ; on fav'ring gale it flies 

Thrilling along the skies. 

a. 2. 
Around the world each feat reviv'd from death 55 

Is wafted by the Muses' breath : 
The tongue of Elocution charms 
And Virtue, mouldering in her ashes, warms. 
JBassus, thy race renown'd from ancient days 

Far o'er th' expanse of Time conveys 60 

Rich freights of glory, every sail 
Extended bellying with Fame's fullest gale* 
To those, who till Parnassus' sacred mount, 
Their mighty actions are the fount 

< 7 . 59. Bassus."] From whom Alcimedas descended. 



265 

Whence all the melody of song, 65 

A full-swol'n river, pours its depth along. 

Sprung from this blood the champion Callias stands, 

The gauntlet arms his hands ; 

e. 2. 

And as he holds aloft the Pythian crown 

Apollo from the skies looks down 70 

And his chaste sister. With the gleam 

Of many a flame Castalia's stream 

Glimmers at eve ; the Graces lead 

Their choir light-stepping o'er the mead* 

O'er Corinth's firm-fix'd bridge of ground 75' 

Dash'd by loud-thund'ring waves around, 

The fane of Neptune echoes loud his name 

While the large victim pours its sacred flame. 

Phlius, thy mountains old with tangled shades o'ergrown 

Saw Victory braid his crown. 80 

s. a. 

Open are all the gates and broad the ways 

To heralds of immortal praise 

Who cheer iEgina's far-fam'd isle 

That glows with Glory's ever-bright'ning smile. 

For, iEacus, illustrious is thy name, 85 

And ail thy race are dear to Fame. 

V. 73. The Graces lead,] The triumphal dance, 

m m 



266 

Conspicuous to the Muse's eyes 

In glorious lustre their great virtues rise. 

Their name flies swiftly o'er th' expanding plain, 

It floats along the billowy main ; 90 

It springs to ^Ethiopia's coast 

And with it wafts the fame of Memnon lost. 

Fierce conflict low'r'd the crested warriors round 

When thund'ring on the ground 

a. 3. 

Achilles sprang, and raging through the air 95 

Flash'd the lightning of his spear. 

See, bright Aurora, on the ground 

Thy son expires, for death was in the wound. 

Warm in this theme the bards of ancient days 

Impetuous throng'd through the broad ways 100 

Of Glory ; where her bright wheels roll 

Panting I follow; Rapture fires my soul. 

Itet other Pilots tamely watch to save 

Their vessel from the coming wave, 

V. 95. Achilles sprang."] Was this image of Achilles springing to the ground inserted by 
the poet at random ? I believe not indeed. His hero's victory was gained in wrestling. 
Pindar breaks off just as he paints Achilles rushing down from his car; by which he seems 
to point out his champion stooping over his fallen antagonist, thus ingeniously comparing 
him to the greatest hero. 

V. 103. Let other Pilots.] I think Pindar means, while other poets of his time, in cele- 
brating their heroes, confined their praise to their own times ; he on the other hand searched 
all antiquity, like the pilot who looks not only on the waves immediately before the ship. 



261 

My Muse explores with aching eye *^ 

The far-seen foam that plumes the verging sky. 
Two-fold my toil, to search Time's mould'ring page 
And view the present age. 

e. 3. 
Twelve times, Alcimedas, and twelve again 

Thy sires were crown'd on Glory's plain. 1 10 

Spontaneous Herald of thy praise 
Now to thyself I tune my lays 
Soaring on Victory's golden wings % 
Another wreath thy valour brings 

To those, thy ancestors before 1 15 

Bright from the sacred contests bore. 
Again th' Olympic flow'rs thy brow had crown'd 
But Fortune rudely dash'd them on the ground. 
Strong and alert the hand that held the guiding rein 
As dolphin in the main. 120 



V. 117. Again tk> Olympic floutr*.] This expression makes me conclude, that in e. 4, of 
the IVth Isth. Ode, Pindar supposes the myrtle to be in flower when he says the hero's 
head is white with its crown. Timidas is here mentioned as crowned in the original. 

V. 118. But Fortune.} It is not clear to what the poet alludes. The hand which held 
the rein is a figurative expression for the unctor. 



NEMEAN ODE VII. 

TO SOGENES, OF JEGINA, VICTOR IN THE FIVE GAMES. 

s.l, 

UAUGHTER of Juno, whose imperial sway 

The wide, celestial realms obey, 

Lucina, hail ! who sitt'st beside 

The Fates, whose wisdom rules Time's heaving tide ; 

By thee at birth the sable brow of night 5 

Shades us or day bursts on our sight ; 

Ready thy sister Hebe stands, 

Who forms each limb and nerves with strength our hands; 

Various the breath inspired in various souls : 

As Fate yokes each, Life's chariot rolls. 10 

By thee his bosom warm'd, Theai ion's son 

To worth and honor rose and palms of glory won* 

A. 1. 
^Egina boasts his birth, where great in arms, 
Fond of triumphal Music's charms, 

Pindar invokes Lucina, who presided at birth, because then a person receives that strength 
of body which enables him to gain the prize. This is the more remarkable here, as the hero 
was a stripling. See Nem. V. s. 3. v. 10. Heyne. 



c 269 

The Race of iEacus reside ; 15 

The palm of contest is their earliest pride, 

Successful Virtue copious Nectar brings 

To feed the Muses' sacred springs. 

But where the hymn forgets to sound, 

Unheeded Worth sinks darkling on the ground. 20 

With radiant locks the Muse of memory stands, 

A glitt'ring mirror in her hands, 

There the great actions of the brave we read, 

The face of Glory glows and Virtue finds her meed. 

E. I. 

When o'er grey Ocean's dim-seen verge the wise 25 

Some slowly-swelling storm descries, 

Then recks he loss of gold, that bids him brave 

The terrors of the threat'ning wave ? 

Far more he dreads the dumb oblivious tomb 

Which swallows Poverty and Wealth in undistingush'd gloom ! SO 

'Twas Homer's Muse embalm'd Ulysses' name 

Sacred to never*dying Fame, 

s. 2. 
High o'er the clouds stretching her purple wings 
With sweet, enchanting pow'r she sings, 

V 27. Then recks he, ,] The sentiment is, " the loss of fame is worse than the loss of 
gold." He dreads the tomb because he fears oblivion. " For who to dumb forgetfulness a 
prey." Gr.- This is rather hinted in the original than expressed at large. 



270 

And awful Wisdom wins the heart 

With the deep mysteries of Fiction's art. 

For clouds of ignorance for ever roll 

Their darkness o'er the vulgar soul ; 

Truth's genuine beams , that fire the sky. 

Shine too exalted for his dazzling eye. 40 

Ne'er else had Ajax's bosom felt his sword , 

Reft of the armour by thy word. 

Insinuating Chief; of all, that gave 

Their light sails swelling to the breeze, no soul so brave 

A. 2. 

Saw Troy, save great Achilles. Blindly roll 45 

With equal rage o'er ev'ry soul 

The all-devouring waves of Fate, 

And whelm alike th' ignoble and the great. 

Then lives their glory, when the gods inspire 

Some hand to sweep the sounding lyre. 50 

Such glory has th' immortal name 

Of Pyrrhus. To the central land he came t 

There in the Pythian plains his body lies. 

For when the smoke ascending flies 

O'er ruin'd Troy, far from his native home 55 

He and his host are driv'n ; to Ephyre they come ; 

V. 43. Insinuating Chief.] Ulysses. See Index on AjaX 



60 



271 



There short his reign, but his Molossian crown 

Descends to generations down ; 

Bearing the spoils to Delphi's fane he goes 

The choicest won from Trojan foes 

His voted off'rings. Lo, the victim slain, 

A dreadful conflict rose, wild uproar fill'd the plain. 

He springs, (quick rage his panting bosom fires), 

And on th' opposing sword expires, 

s. 3. 
With grief indignant throbs each Delphian's breast, 65 

All faithful to their pious guest. 
But Fate had giv'n the awful word 
And secret plung'd the long-predestyied sword. 
It was decreed one of that royal line 

Beside Apollo's splendid shrine 70 

Beneath the long-grown arched gloom 
Of woods should fix his everlasting tomb. 



V. 68. And secret plunged.] To clear this matter in the midst of so much confusion is 
not easy. Pyrrhus fell in a sudden uproar according to destiny. Some therefore interpret it, 
that this was a retribution for having killed Priam at the altar: but another decree is imme- 
diately mentioned by Pindar, that he was destined to be interred there, and that his soul was 
to survey games in his own honor. Now where there are two different accounts, Pindar seems 
to adopt that which is the most honorable to the hero's memory, in which respect I under- 
stand Pindar represents himself an imitator of Homer. 



272 

His shade, a righteous judge, th' heroic train 

Invite to view their victims slain : 

But let your flying fingers, while ye sing 75 

Such worth, ye Muses, thrice touch light the trembling string. 

a. 3* 
To thee, iEgina, and great Jove are born 
Sons that each splendid path adorn 
Of virtue. But ambrosial lays 

Still sweeter flow swelling with temper'd praise. 80 

The bees' pure bev'rage and fair Venus' flow'r 5 
And ev'ry sweet of softest pow'r 
To charm the raptured senses^ cloy ; 
But various arts our varying life employ : 

And each, attracted still by Nature's force, 85 

Now here, now there> pursues his course. 
Where lives the man, his $ingle hand can stretch 
And grasp all joys ? The Fates fix them beyond his reach s 

e. 3. 
But for Thearion chose the happiest hour, 

O'er his grey hairs fresh joy they show'r. 90 

Valour is Ii is to dare adventrous deeds, 
Wisdom with rev'rend brow succeeds. 

V. 89. But for Thearion.'] Father of Sogenes, 



273 

No partial countryman I sing his praise, 

Envy, withdraw thy cloud nor chill my fervent lays, 

Pure o'er my friend they flow, the genuine flood 95 

Of Glory, that rewards the good. 

s. 4. 
O'er Greece may fly unblam'd the swelling sound. 
Or o'er the Ionian wave profound, 
Truth gives the wing. Her friendly hand 

The Muse of Thebes holds to iEgina's land. 100 

In Falsehood's poison I ne'er dipt my dart ; 
Who sees my face may read my heart ; 
No malice low'rs upon my brow : 
Thus may my life in sweet peace ever flow I 

Who of my countrymen e'er heard me sing 105 

Clashing harsh a sland'rous string ? 

My tongue still bids the shaft of praise arise, . * 

Which never, sacred Truth, beyond the limit flies % 

a. 4. 
On Sogenes shall rest its glitt'ring head* 
Thee, ere the blazing sun had shed 110 

V. 100. The Muse of Thebes. 1 Pindar seems to say, that his praise proceeds from truth 
only, not from wishing to depress others of the same country, by a comparison with his hero. 
See Heyne. 

V. 109. On Sogenes."} This victory appears to have been acquired with less toil than 
common. Is not this one reason for introducing Pyrrhus, who, though present at the final 
conquest of Troy, yet obtained his honors after the grand labours were over ? 

n n 



His fires thy glowing limbs around 

Won without toil the palm of victory crown'd : 

Or were it toil, the nobler rapture thine 

On whom the brighter glories shine. 

The victor claims a lofty song : H& 

Admit the sweet strains which to worth belong* 

My lyre, still fondly swell the grateful sound, 

With no slight wreaths his brows be bound. 

With glowing gold the Muse bright iv'ry joins 

And in the brilliant crown fresh-dropping coral twines. 120 

e. 4. 
Nor shall her tongue forget the almighty name, 
Great President of Nemea's game ; 
But bid the hymn in solemn notes resound 
To Jove from this his sacred ground. 

For here, so Fame records, in days of yore 125 

Th' almighty king of gods confess'd iEgina's pow'r ; 
The nymph conceiv'd and from the mother's throes 
The sire of mighty warriors rose, 

s. 5, 

.Great iEacus, whose far-extended sway 
Baeotia's valiant sons obey. 130 

V* 129. Great uEacus.] Why may not Pindar allude to some event from which JE&cus 
might have been looked up to as a ruler by Thebes, or by some Thebans ? 



275 

Firm as a rock his arms attend 

Great Hercules , a brother and a friend. 

On social neighbours social neighbours know 

Love's richest bounties to bestow ; 

How shall those joys superior shine 1 35 

If thy great neighbour be a friend divine S 

Alcides, thee, a sire our champion claims 

(All-ardent are his youthful aims) 

Whose hand the giants felt, his steps to guide, 

Where trod his mighty sires, o'er Glory's mountain side, 140 

a. 5. 
Between the tossing steeds as peeps the pole 
Where swift the rattling chariots roll* 
Alcides, thus, on either hand 
Between thy fanes thou seest his mansion stand : 

At thy request the Pow'rs, who rule the skies, i45 

Will smile ; Minerva's fav'ring eyes 
Will cheer his soul. By toil opprest 
Man gains from thee relief and golden rest. 
Bid life's calm stream unvarying ever flow 
Through all his race unstain'd with woe ! 150 

V. 1 37. Alcides, thee,J He is termed a neighbour, because he had a fane on each side of 
the champion's house. Hence with Benedictus I understand Pindar represents his hero 
looking up to Hercules as a friend, a father, and an hero, cherishing his young mind to an 
imitation of his virtues. 

V, 145. At thy request.} Still addressing Hercules, 



216 

For Youth, for cheery Age th' unfading wreath 

Of joy prepare and blend e'acli flow'r of sweetest breath. 

e. 5. 
Let the same honors crown his children's brow 
And o'er his children's children glow 

With lustre uneclips'd. Warm from my soul 155 

Truth's genuine streams unsullied roll. 
Ne'er did my Muse shoot with malicious aim 
A shaft in poison dipt to wound thy ancient fame, 
Great Pyrrhus : when such well-known worth we praise 
Ev'n children answer to the lays. 160 

V, 157. Of which, we are told, Pindar had been accused. 



NEMEAN ODE VIII. 

TO DINIAS, OF JEGINA, VICTOR IN THE RACE. 

s. 1. 

-H. AIL lovely Youth, in roseate bloom array 'd, 

Soft-seated on the eye-lid of some maid 

Or stripling, herald of fair Venus' band, 

Th' ambrosial Loves ; thou, whose soft hand 

Leads one with Fate's fond smile carest, I 

One with far other grasp opprest ; 

Pindar begins this ode with describing the difference between happy and unhappy love : 
the unhappy he dispatches in a word or two; but from the happy he says, are produced 
heroes, such as ^Eacus, whom he addresses as tutelar god of his hero's country. He prays 
him to bless the country in the same manner as the gods blessed Cinyras, from dwelling upon 
whose history he recalls himself lest he should incur the censure of the envious. ^—Pindar at 
first, in his delicacy and sweetness, resembles Anacreon and Horace, but gradually rises into 
a sublimity truly his own, like the lark, at first brushing off the sweet dew-drops of the 
flowering clover, then warbling, half-unseen, in the blue sky.- Thus Euripides — 

When with a wild, impetuous sway, 

The loves come rushing on the breast, 

Each virtuous thought is rent away, 

Each breath of fame supprest. 

But when, confess'd her gentle reign 

Enchanting Venus deigns V appear, 

Of all the pow'rs of heav'n most dear 

She leads the Graces in her train. 

Ne'er from thy golden bow, queen of soft joy, 

Steep'd in desire thy shafts 'gainst me employ !«— Potter. 



278 

How envied is the pow'r 

To taste Love's sweetest fruit, when Fortune rules the hour ! 

A. 1. 

Around iEgina and th' enamour'd Jove 

Flutter'd such Guardians of the gifts of love : 10 

Whence sprung the ancient monarch of the land 3 

Vigour nerv'd his sceptr'd hand. 

The Conclave watch'd his nod, all eyes 

Gaz'd on their sov'reign mild and wise, 

Spontaneous round him rose 15 

The flow'r of valiant hosts, vailing their lofty brows; 

E. 1. 

Athenian Peers before him stand. 

And valiant chiefs from Sparta's land 

Sons of a sire renown'd. Great monarch, hear$ 

Protect iEgina's tow'rs and be her hosts thy care ! 20 

Suppliant before thy knees I fall, 

Hear* royal shade, great iEacus, my call I 

O hear the strain, that softly floats, 

Varying sweet in Lydian notes ! 



V. 16. thefloiv'r.'] At the time of the drought which oppressed Greece. See Index on 
iEacus. Perhaps it was in allusion to something of this sort that Pindar called him a ruler 
of JBaeotia, Nem. VII. s. 5, v. 2. The Baeotians might be among those who paid him some 
homage. 

r. 19. Sons of a sire. 1 Pelops. 



279 

Glory the Nemean garland throws 25 

Around the hero's round the father's brows. 

Heav'n rais'd the flow'rs, of which those crowns are made? 

Foster'd by Pow'rs divine our joys shall never fade. 

s. 2. 

Such, Cinyras, was that almighty hand 

Which roll'd thy glitt'ring heaps on Cyprian land. 30 

But check thy nimble steps, my Muse, respire, 

Nor vex with oft-sung strains the lyre ; 

Add not ; for dangerous Fiction breeds 

The food on which fell Envy feeds i 

Her bow she ever bends 35 

To wound the good, but ne'er with baser souls contends* 

a. 2. 

Ajax, she fix'd thy sword deep in the ground 

And roll'd thee, warrior, sinking on the wound. 

The tongue-less valour of the generous heart 

Oblivion whelms ; the wily art 40 



V. 29. Such, Cinyras.} What is the connexion here > The gifts of heaven never fade. 
On Cinyras, Pindar says, he must not expatiate, and to add fiction is dangerous and exposes 
to the rebukes of Envy. It was Envy only which could disgrace Ajax, a hero of iEgina. 
If Ajax, so might Diniasof the same country too be forgotten, since Envy delights to obscure 
the brightest. Pindar therefore dispd.. tno^e clouds, throwing round his hero's brows the 
golden rays of his poetry. The allusion is to the contest with Ulysses. 



280 

Of Elocution gains the prize, 

Those arms of gold, by varnish'd lies. 

With secret votes the host 

Crown art, but leave the brave in Death's dire conflict lost, 

» 

E. S, 

Yet, lo ! with far unequal fears 4-5 

Trembled before their rival spears 

Troy's hostile troops ; when gush'd from many a Wound 

Large streams of boiling gore Achilles' corse around, 

Where brazen warriors stalk'd the plain, 

Furious to guard their honor'd hero slain, 50 

Or when each bloody Day their car 

Saw plunge through all the toils of war. 

For ever odious is the art 

Of fawning Speech with malice in the heart. 

Plotting disgrace and ruin ; her delight £5 

To raise and gloss th' unsound but basely stain the bright* 

s. 3. 
Ne'er, father Jove, be such vile manners mine I 
Truth, o'er my simple paths of life still shine ! 
So shall my memory ever-vernal bloom 

And o'er my sons breathe from the tomb 60 

The fragrance of untainted fame. 
Wealth, land I ask not ; but a name 



281 

Blest with my country's smile 

And a free voice to praise the good and boldly lash the vile. 

A. 3. 
Like trees their fragrant boughs the Virtues spread, £5 

Green with refreshing dew-drops on their head ; 
Through the soft moisture of the air they rise 
When cherish'd by the good and wise. 
Friendship has various gifts to show. 

But chief he crowns the victor's brow ; 70 

Triumphant Virtues raise 
The swelling soul to joy, but still she thirsts for praise, 

E. 3. 
The friendly Muse through depths profound 
Would dive, back from th' o'er-arching ground 

To bring thy sire ; there Death and Darkness reign ; 75 

Stern-frowning Fate withstands ; empty such hope and vain I 
Yet, lo ! fair structure of her hand 
This bright triumphal column long shall stand ; 



P. 64. And a free.] These noble sentiments in Pindar I admire more than his sublimest 
Jigures and images. When I turn my eyes from him upon his imitator Horace, how I pity 
him, cringing among the lacqueys of Augustus ! How much more Virgil, a bard worthy of 
Rome in her highest grandeur, that he should deign to leave his laurel bower on the heights 
of Parnassus, where he sate in converse with Homer and the Muses, with Pythagoras and 
Apollo ! That he should descend to stand before a mortal throne ! That he should stoop 
before the footstool of an emperor ! 

o o 



282 

Sons yet unborn shall there behold 

Four brilliant crowns emboss'd in gold. 80 

Proud let the Conqu'ror's soul rejoice 

When Glory, soft Enchantress, swells her voice, 

The long-known balm of toil ; for ere the days, 

Which clouded Thebes with war, the Muses tun'd their lays* 



NEMEAN ODE IX. 

TO CHROMIUS, OF ^TNA, VICTOR IN THE CHARIOT-RACE, IN 
GAMES SACRED TO APOLLO AT SICYON. 



DECADE 1. 

FROM Sicyon, Muses ! from Apollo's game 

Lead your glad choir and rouse the voice of Fame ; 

Haste ye to ^Etna's new-built walls, 

Attend the victor, Chromius calls ! 

To tides of guests his yielding doors unfold, 5 

Display the spacious hall, the massy gold, 

The sumptuous feast. Prepare your train, 

He comes triumphant from the plain : 

The car-borne victor comes, begin the lay ! 

Hear, ye celestial Pow'rs ? these contests who survey ! 10 

d. 2. 
The voice of myriads breathing still the same 
Heroic actions consecrates to Fame ; 



This and the other Nemean odes seem improperly entitled, as they relate not to Nemeart 
Tictories. 

V. 10. Hear, ye.~\ Latona, Apollo, and Diana. 



284 

Rous'd by her trumpet's golden sound 

Silence ne'er sinks them to the ground. 

The sweetest breath, that can the reed inspire, A 15 

The loveliest touch, that charms the heav'n-strung lyre, 

Shall swell the fame of Chromius, crown'd 

Within Apollo's listed ground. 

This contest near Asopus' silver-stream 

Adrastus first proclaim'd, Adrastus be my theme, £0 

d. 3. 

New festivals adbrn'd his ancient reign 

And glorious feats ennobled Sicyon's plain ; 

There the vigorous heroes strove, 

There the glowing cars they drove. 

From Argos, from the throne where sate his sire, $5 

Where mad Sedition spread her raging fire, 

( While Force his royal sceptre down 

Insulting dash'd and seiz'd the crown,) 

Hither he fled; but calm his wiser soul 

Contention hush'd and bade no more her wild waves roll, 30 

d. 4. 
Peace led the virgin to the prophet's arms 
And seal'd the compact with destructive charms. 

V. 29. Hither he Jled.] The sedition Adrastus composed by giving his sister Eriphyle t» 
Amphiaraus, the prophet. She afterwards betrayed her husband for a necklace. Adrastus 
was son of Talau*. 



285 

The royal race regain'd their throne 

And midst their Greeks distinguish'd shone, 

High o'er the rest along the Argive field, 35 

Where throng'd the warriors, gleam'd their brazen shield. 

To Thebes they rush. That fatal day 

Saw no glad pinion cheer their way ; 

Nor spake Jove's thunder with a fav'ring roll 

To their mad troops, but heav'n scowl'd vengeance oil each soul. 40 

D. 5. 
Rash Fury led their hosts in dread array, 
Destruction yawns to gorge her destin'd prey. 
For, lo ! before the threaten'd wall 
Horse and rattling chariots fall : 

No more those brass-clad warriors shall return, 45 

Ismenus sees the mangl'd corses burn, 
Sees the pale*wreathing smoke. Sev'n pyres 
Roll o'er the flick'ring stream their fires. 
Jove's forceful bolt cleft the deep-bosom'd ground, 
Wide o'er the prophet and his steeds he clos'd the dark profound. 50 

d. 6. 
Secure from shame and from the threatened blow 
Sinking he 'scaped his disappointed foe. 
Though brave his heart, yet if heav'n roll 
Horrors to shake th' astounded soul, 



286* 

Mightiest of heroes sprung from gods retire. 65 

Oh, never thus, if Fate allow, great sire, 

Never before Phoenicia's spear 

May ^Etna's warlike legions fear 

Death's doubtful contest ! Bid the loud roar cease 

Of War ! Drive far his storms I Expand the wings of Peace ! 60 

j>. 7. 
May righteous laws long o'er the city reign, 
The honors of calm peace her heroes gain! 
Their souls, superior to the charms 
Of gold, a nobler ardour warms, 

The care of neighing steeds. With base desire, 65 

Where avarice wastes the soul, a secret fire, 
The shoots of Glory feebly rise, 
Droop and decay ; all honor dies. 
But perils fade before our hero's soul, 
In vain spears flash, horse rush, or thund'ring billows rolL 70 

d« 8. 
Doubtst thou ? Beside him lift his batter'd shield, 
And step by step attend him through the field. 
Honor, his God, within him burns, 
Fires all his soul, unheeded turns 

Th' invader's lance aside. Where is the hand, 75 

When War's dread tempests drench in gore the land, 



287 

Valiant and wise the hero where 

Who treads in dust the splinfer'd spear, 

Back-rolling on the foe the direful flood ? 

Thus on Scamander's banks the glorious Hector stood : 80 

n. 9. 

Thus stood'st thou, Chromius, by the craggy side, 

Where dash'd to foam Helorus whirls his tide, 

There where still the Punic name 

Lives to everlasting shame ; 

There dawn'd thy glory, there thy youthful brow 85 

First caught her radiant beams, again they glow 

Brilliant along the dusty plain, 

Gleaming across the neighb'ring main. 

Thy youthful toils the calm of peace succeeds ; 

Just heav'n with boundless bliss has crown'd thy glorious deeds, 90 



V. 81. Thus stootfst thou.~\ We may see a sufficient reason for celebrating the expedition 
against Thebes, from which it was wonderfully delivered. The image was well introduced, 
when the poet was celebrating a hero who had been conspicuous in defending his country. 
Yet Pindar, with a delicacy peculiar to himself, seems to mention Adrastus only because 
he founded the games; dec. 2. v. 10. This, which is in Pindar's Muse the most distin- 
guishing feature, the commentators appear least to notice. If they imagine it cannot 
escape any observer, they are mistaken ; for the goddess wears a veil, which she permits 
not any one to turn aside till he has been not only ardent in his addresses, but constant in 
his attention. 

F. 83. There where.] The place seems to have had its name from a defeat of the Cartha- 
ginians, of which I find no satisfactory account. 



288 



D. 10, 



What nobler heights attract thy mortal eyes ? 

To what superior summit would't thou rise, 

At once with god-like honors crown'd, 

While wealth in large floods swells around ? 

The calm of peace to jovial feast belongs, 95 

Fresh wreaths of victory love triumphal songs. 

AH freely o'er the sparkling bowl 

Raptur'd the choral voices roll. 

Enchanting herald of the song and lyre, 

Sweet-blushing offspring of the Vine, each heart, each tongue inspire ; 100 

d. 11. 

Breathe thy sweet force to charm our willing souls ; 

While foaming nectar crowns the silver bowls, 

The prize from Sicyon's sacred ground, 

Sent by the steeds which Glory crown'd ; 

Apollo, sacred to our hero's praise, 105 

High on each tossing head thy chaplet plays. 

Look, Jove, from heav'n ; each Grace descend, 

And on my raptur'd lyre attend. 

Ye songs of triumph, lofty strains arise, 

Borne by the Muse's shafts along the list'ning skies. 110 



NEMEAN ODE X. 

TO THI^US, VICTOR IN WRESTLING. 

8. I. 

Y E Graces, to the golden lyre repeat 
The praise of Argos, Juno's favoured seat, 
From fifty splendid thrones where Danaus led 
His fifty daughters to the nuptial bed. 

There unnumber'd Virtues shine, 5 

Glory, Valour, feats divine. 
Tedious were the strain to tell 
By Perseus how the Gorgon fell, 
How Egypt, rais'd by Epaphus's hand 

Saw many a city overspread her land ; 10 

(Nor err'd that nymph, who from the murd'rous crew 
Her sword, which singly shrunk at tbe dire stroke, withdrew). 



The hero being an Argive, Pindar begins with the praises or Argos and Argive heroes. 
The victory was gained in the games sacred to Juno at Argos. 

P. 11. Nor err'd that nymph.} Hypermnestra, the only one of these daughters, who re- 
fused to murder her husband. Horace seems here to vie with Pindar. His expression how- 
ever " splendide mendax," elegant as it is, seems inferior to Pindar's thought, who represents 
the sword itself alive and unwilling to consent to the murder. 

P p 



290 



1. 



How Diomede, of Argive princess sprung, 

Soar'd at Minerva's call the gods among. 

Or how Jove wrench'd the thunder-smitten ground, 35 

(While Thebes with horror view'd the dark profound,) 

And bade it o'er the prophet close 

Who rush'd, a whirlwind, on the foes; 

Why should we praise thy matchless fair, 

Argos, or boast their radiant hair ? 20 

That boast Alcmena, Danae well may prove, 

Whose charms attracted ev'n the eyes of Jove. 

On Lynceus and on Talaus he bestow'd 

Souls teeming wisdom's fruit, hearts that with goodness glow'd. 

E. 1. 

That god with ever-fav'ring care 25 

Guided, Amphitryon, thy spear. 

Blest mortal thou, to whom was giv'n 

Alliance with the sire of heav'n ! 

All-arm'd in brass, like thee he came, 

And crown'd with Conquest's recent fame. 30 

Before his steps the doors unclose : 

From that embrace the great Alcides rose. 

V. 20. Alcmena, Danae, both Argives, as were Lynceus and Talaus. At the mention of 
Alcmena Pindar digresses to v. 36. 



*29\ 

To him in heav'n the royal Juno's hands 

Led his fair nymph ; with sweet blush Hebe stands 

Blooming, that each bright goddess fades beside 35 

The ever-peerless bride. 



Too feebly, Argos, breathes the lyric string 

To sound the virtues that around thee spring. 

Ardent my lips thy praises would prolong 

Would not the ear fastidious loathe my song. '*" 

Still the well-strung lyre shall sound 

While, Argos, on thy listed ground 

Stalks the champion, gleams the prize 

With brazen light, the sacrifice 

Of heavVs high queen assembling myriads draws, && 

And Glory gives the crown by equal laws. 

ThiaBus, twice that crown thy temples bound, 

And twice thy short-liv'd toil in sweet oblivion drown'd. 

a. 2. 

ThiaBus victor mid the Grecian throng 

Did Pytho hail ; by Fortune led along 50 

Thiaeus grasp'd the Isthmian, Nemean prize, 

Aloft display'd them to the Muses' eyes 

F. 43. Gleams tkeprine.] A brazen shield,, 



292 

And loud with joy's extatic fire 

Bade them strike the living lyre. 

Thrice he bade them pour the strain bo 

There, where Adrastus held his reign, 

Thrice where thy wave-wash'd cliffs, proud Corinth, rise 

Out-barring the vex'd flood. His silent eyes, 

Father of all events, to thee he turns, 

Ardent for thy grand prize, the meed of toil, he burns* CO 

E. 2. 
His worth thyself and thousands own 
Who grasp at Glory's loftiest crown ; 
Nor idly burns, though not confest, 
The wish that fires his panting breast, 

" On Victory's golden wing to rise 65 

" And win Olympia's envied prize 
" Which great Alcides gave." Resound, 
i T e sweet Athenian choirs, ye saw him crowii'dj 
Yet once again renew the swelling strain, 

Twice bore he victor, o'er his Argive plain, 70 

Glory's high-figur'd urn, while from her throne 
Heav'n's queen with smiles look'd down. 

s. 3, 
On thee Thiaeus, from thy mother's line 
Bright Glory's golden beams reflected shine, 



c 293 

Leda's twin-heroes and the Graces shed 75 

The well-earn'd honors o'er each victor's head. 

Could I with kindred splendors glow 

Like thee, I would not hide my brow, 

But proud through Greece would boast thy name, 

Antias, or Thrasyclus, thy fame ; 80 

For many a garland bore each vig'rous hand, 

Argos, to grace thy ever^martial land. 

Four times did Nemea hear glad triumph sound, 

And Corinth heard each name from shore to shore rebound. 

a. 3. 
Bright Victory led their steps from Sicyon's land, 85 

The silver goblets glitt'ring in each hand. 
Triumphant as they trod Pellene's ground 
The robe of Glory clad their limbs around. 
Uncounted each inferior prize 

Of brass, the cup, the target lies. 90 

The number it were vain to ask, 
What Muse has leisure for the task ? 
Clitorium, Tegea and each high-wall'd town 
Of Greece presented many a well-earn'd crown, 

And Jove's Lycaean altar. In the course 95 

Wing'd were their feet, their hands smote with a whirlwind's force. 

V. 89. Uncounted each.] In the profusion of Argive names at the beginning of the ode, 
Pindar seems to exhibit something like the numerous prizes gained in his hero's family. 



294 

e. 3. 
For Castor came in days of yore 
With Pollux to the social door 
Of Pamphaes, and from the sire, 

Through all his race the genuine fire ^00 

In each heroic breast reviv'd, 
What could it less from gods deriv'd ? 
Those twins divine with Hermes stand, 
And Hercules on Sparta's spacious land, 

T' adjudge th' athletic prize by equal laws, 105 

The just they ever love and guard his cause s 
For righteous Faith an ever-during shrine 
Holds in the breast divine. 

s. 4. 
Alternate each, so Fate rewards their love, 

Now reascends the splendid courts of Jove, 1 10 

Now with the falling day is ever found 
In the dank gloom beneath the deep-arch'd ground, 

V. 97. For Castor came.'] Here again beside the assigned cause of introducing Castor and 
Pollux, as if from them a similar heroism descended on the whole race of Pamphaes, his 
hero's ancestor ; Pindar probably had another. He had said Thiasus might derive glory from 
his relations Antias and Thrasyclus. Now he gives us a beautiful episode to the memory of 
the twin heroes. Can we imagine he would not have us secretly make a comparison ? If 
we do not give our fancy the rein and sometimes add the spur too, we shall be distanced by 
Pindar's rapid steed. But if we follow with spirit enough to hold him constantly and clearly 
in view, we shall see in every turn he takes, in every bound, in every step, in every motion, a 
display of vigour and elegance. 



'295 

There where Therapne's hollow vale 

Sinks winding to the regions pale 

Of Death. Such, Pollux, was thy choice, 1 15 

Nor can the brother's soul rejoice, 

Quaffing immortal joys above the sky, 

If his lov'd Castor pale and breathless lie. 

The brazen spear of Idas gave the wound, 

(Bold rapine was the cause), and stretch'd him on the ground. 120 

a. 4. 
Wrapt in the shelter of a snaggy oak 
While far retired his lonely seat he took, 
Him Lynceus, from the mountain's peak, descries : 
(Beyond all mortals pierc'd his brilliant eyes) 

With Idas swift his close retreat 125 

(Vengeance wing'd their gliding feet) 
He gains ; when both with furious breast 
Themselves to bloody deeds addrest. 
But, lo ! the indignant sire from heav'n looks down, 

They feel the chilling terror of his frown. ISO 

Instant before them Pollux furious stands ; 
They near their father's tomb await his vengeful hands. 

V. 119. Here are two stories, and it is uncertain to which Pindar alludes. Some say the 
quarrel arose from the rape of two brides, others from the theft of oxen. In such difficulties 
I pretend not to decide ; in the original however, we ought to observe, that Idas is said to be 
enraged, whence it seems that the other party were the aggressors. 

V. 1 ( 27. He gains; when botk.~} Idas and Lynceus, the two brothers. 



296 



e. 4- 
By main force wrench'd a sculptur'd stone, 
Pluto's grim form they heaved, and down 

Against the hero's breast it rush'd 135 

Thund'ring ; but not a sinew crush'd 
Nor drove him back ; with rapid stride 
He sprang and drench'd in Lynceus* side 
His spear. But Jove on Idas hurl'd 

His fire-fledg'd bolt in smould'ring eddies whirl'd. 140 

The brothers fall, sad victims of one flame 
Unaided left, unwept, without a name : 
Hard conflict to contend with sons of Jove 
Safe-shielded with his love ! 

s. 5. 

His brother now the valiant conqneror seeks 145 

And sorrowing finds. All life from his pale cheeks 

Faded, his body bloodless, with short breath 

Convuls'd and shudd'ring in the gripe of Death* 

Gushing from his grief-nipt brow 

Boiling tears began to flow 150 

With bursting groans : " Oh father Jove, 

u Thus must chill sorrow close our love ? 

M Grant me," he cries, " great king of Iieav'n, in death 

" Here mixt with his to pour my latest breath ! 



297 

" Ah ! where is Glory, where her ancient boast? 100 

" Fall'n like a drooping flow'r, a friend, a brother lost ! 

a. 5. 
" How few of mortals faithful can be found 
" To clasp a friend laid low by Fortune's wound 
" And share his grief!" He spake and from his throne 
Jove hastes to cheer him ; u hail, my honor'd son I 160 

66 (Thou art my own, thy brother's birth 
" Was from an hero, son of earth) 
u Choose as thou wilt, and either fate 
" At HeavVs decree thy choice shall wait; 

u Wilt thou escape grim Death's unconquer'd rage 165 

" And the cold, palsied grasp of hateful Age, 
" And with Minerva and the god who wields 
" Furious the ebon spear, ascend heav'n's azure fields | 

e. 5. 

" Fate grants the wish : or wouldst thou prove 

" Thy truth and constancy of love ? 170 

" With Castor will his brother dare 
" One undivided lot to share ? 
" Lo, half thy life in night profound 
u Deep within the hollow ground 

" Must breathe the chill air of the dead, 175 

" Half o'er the golden floors of heav'n shall tread," 

Qq 



298 

He spake : nor shrunk with doubt the hero's soul. 
Behold ! the eyes half-clos'd rekindling roll 
Their wonted fires ; the lips congeal'd in death 
Grow warm with vocal breath. 



NEMEAN ODE XL 

TO ARISTAGORAS, SON OF ARCESILAS, OF TENEDOS. 

S.J. 

JJaUGHTER of Rhea, thou, -whose guardian care defends 

The rev'rend magistrate, sister of Jove 

And Juno, who the same imperial throne ascends ; 

Thy splendid sceptre near, with fav'ring love 

Within thy fane admit 5 

Great Aristagoras and each compeer ! 

O'er Tenedos a righteous guard they sit, 

Thy pow'r they all revere. 

A. 1. 
The rich libations oft their pious hands bestow, 

Full oft they light the incense-breathing fire, 10 

To thee before all Gods their choral voices flow, 
While the full-swelling tide rolls o'er the lyre. 

This ode Pindar addressed to Aristagoras, entering upon the magistracy. He begins with 
an invocation to Vesta, whose fire was kept ever burning on an altar where the magistrates 
offered sacrifices ; near this altar stood a statue of the goddess holding a spear or sceptre. In 
the orignal there seems a solemnity of manner which makes us wish it were possible to hear 
the accompaniment, which, I conceive, answered the poet's words like an organ breathing the 
dead march in Saul. 



300 

Obedient ever stands 

Their board to hospitable Jove's commands ; 

Bright close their year and not a speck be found i5 

Nor on their heart a wound ! 

e. I. 
Blest, Hero, is thy sire 
That in his son the fire 
And vigour shine of all the noble race. 

But what is Nature's wealth 20 

Form, valour, active health 

Which more than mortal man the champion grace? 
Or what the honor'd prize 
Which points him to admiring eyes ? 

Mortality's vain covering fades away, 25 

Soon must those vig'rous limbs take their last robe of clay ! 

s. 2. 
Let all the country hear, eacli voice return the praise 
Of Aristagoras ; each city round 
Re-echo to his name in sweetly-floating lays. 

Eight times and eight again he stalk'd their ground, 30 

And bore the glorious prize, 
Which full-exerted sinews, strength of hand 

V. 02. Which full- exerted.} Wrestling and the PanciatUirn. 



30 i 

And firm limbs won, to grace his native land, 
Before their wond'ring eyes. 

a. 2. 

Cold were his parents' hopes and quench'd his youthful fire, 35 

Nor Pytho nor Olympia gave the crown ; 

Else had Castalia seen his vig'rous limbs aspire, 

Or Cronion's nodding groves, to win renown ; 

Triumphant had the youth 

(Bold with an oath fond Hope would seal the truth) 40 

Return'd, above each champion on the ground 

With brightest glory crown'd ; 

e. 2. 
The purple branch had spread 
Soft lustre round his head, 

Alcides' feast had seen his soul rejoice, 45 

Thus 'tis with man ; one falls 
Where mad-brain'd Rashness calls 
While empty Pride high-vaunting swells her voice ; 
Another lets Despair 
(Though fav'ring Nature makes him heir 50 



V. 37. Else had.} If his parents had not restrained him he would have gained a Pythian 
crown near Castalia, an Olympic near Cronion. 

V. 43. The purple."} The ancients called any bright colour purple. The purple light of 
yputlu Vxr, 



302 

To Heav'n's best gifts) her feeble thoughts impart 
To petrify his hand or sink his glowing heart. 

s. 3. 

And justly I presage deeds of no vulgar fame, 

For from Pisander's noble blood he sprung; 

(Who from Amyclae's walls with great Orestes came ; 55 

Loud through th' iEolian host their brass arms rung) 

But by the mother's side 

From Menalippus his great line he trac'd ; 

He, where Ismenus' lucid waters glide, 

His ancient dwelling plac'd. 60 



Virtues awhile oft ebb, again the full tide flows 

The big waves deepening with returning force. 

Not on the richest plain in every season grows 

The golden crop, for all things have their course. 

Now sweetly swell the trees q^ 

"With buds ; their flow'rs now scent the passing breeze; 

Now ripe in all their riches they appear; 

But changes rule the year. 

e. 3. 
Dark is the fate of man. 
Jove's secrets none may scan, »q 



303 

None read th' event. Shackled with Passion's chain , 

False-glitt'ring hopes and pride, 

With swelling heart we stride, 

Up many an arduous height we laboring strain. 

Far from our mortal eyes . 75 

The sacred founts of prescience rise. 

Bright gold may tempt ; yet glow with modest tire, 

For what beyond thee lies, rage not with mad desire. 

V. 71. Shackled with] Our hopes mislead us and occasion a fall. 

V. 77. Bright gold may tempt.] Pindar's words are, " we ought to seek moderate gains." 
This seems to be here a proverbial expression. Pindar had said if his parents had not re= 
strained him, Aristagoras would have gained the highest honors by his vigour ; but lest this 
should encourage the son to be too daring, he reminds him that we cannot foretell the event, 



ISTHMIAN ODE I. 

TO HERODOTUS, A THEBAN, VICTOR IN THE CHARIOT RACE, 

s. J. 

-LAND of my birth, glitt'ring in golden arms, 
Thy trump of victory my bosom warms. 
Though other themes my busy Muse invite, 
Half-tun'd Apollo's hymn shall wait my hand. 
Where rests the good man's eye with more delight 
Than on the lov'd face of his native land ? 
Ye crags of Delos, rest ; some distant day 
Shall send a willing Muse if heav'n assist the lay, 

a. 1. 
Then in sweet transport shall she lead along 
The choir and Phoebus listen to the song ; 20 



Games sacred to Neptune were celebrated in the Isthmus of Corinth, whence these odes, 
in honor of the victors, took their name. When Pindar wrote this 1st Isthmian ode, he was 
engaged in composing another to be sung at Delos, in honor of Apollo, at the request of the 
inhabitants of Coos. 



305 

The billow-beaten shores of Coos round 

Unnumber'd hosts shall hear Apollo's name, 

Now the glad voice from Corinth's cliffs must sound, 

And the sixth crown to glorying Thebes proclaim. 

Hail, land of heroes ! from whose bosom rose 15 

Alcmena's wond'rous child, the terror of his foes ; 

E? h 

Him, as he spurn'd Geryon dead, 

His dogs with dire howl slinking fled* 

Now, great Herodotus, be thine 

Won by thy steeds the wreath I twine : 20 

Thy hand unaided held the rein, 

Guiding the thunder of the plain. 

Such wreaths shall crown thee as of yore 

Castor or Iolaus bore ; 

Theban or Spartan, none like them in force f 3 

To urge the fleet steed o'er the course. 

s. 2. 
Full oft did Glory stoop on azure wing 
And fresh-pluck'd garlands o'er those heroes fling. 
Tripods and cauldrons in their houses shone 

And goblets high-emboss'd of burnish'd gold ; 30 

Oft did they taste the joy of Victory's crown, 
The naked champion by their bare arm roll'd 

r r 



306 

Along the dust, or when with whirlwind's force 

Clashing in arms they rush'd tremendous o'er the course. 

A. 2. 

How did their hand the glitt'ring javelin wield 35 

Or hurl the massy stone high o'er the field f 

(Not then the triumphs of a single game 

Blended five wreaths to deck the victor's brow ; 

Through several paths were trac'd the steps of Fame s 

In toils distinct she bade her heroes glow) ; 40 

Oft did the verdant honors of their hair, 

Beside Eurotas' banks and Dirce's stream appear* 

- 

e. 2. 
Heroes farewell ! no more the Muse 
Sheds o'er your tombs her sacred dews. 

Each were a worthy theme of praise* 45 

But, lo ! the living claims her lays. 
The god of mighty waters calls, 
And Corinth's steep in chalky walls 
Piled o'er the foam by Nature's hands ? 
Onchestus' richly-water'd lands 50 



V. 42. Eurotas' banks. "] Eurotas, a Spartan, and Birce, a Theban stream, denote that 
Castor and Iolaus honored their respective countries with victories. 

V. 50. Onchestus' richly.] By the banks of Onchestus Heyne thinks Orchomenus is pointed 
to, the town ofthe hero : but Onchestus is sacred to Neptune. Isth. IV. st. 2. v. 3. 



I 



|i 307 

Join'd with, Herodotus, thy endless fame 
Bid me proclaim thy fathers's name ; 

s. 3. 

And her's, who, as a parent her lov'd child, 

From mad Sedition's wrecks loose-floating, wild, 

(To which, driv'n o'er th' immensely-swelling waves, 55 

Half-sinking, breathless and aghast he clings,) 

Grasps him and from the storms of Fortune saves ; 

She smiling calm unfolds her dove-like wings ^ 

Which nurtur'd him at birth ; the tempests cease, 

And wisdom brighter shines with sweet return in peace* 

* a. 3. 

Honor still follows, where true worth precedes, 

Alike from valiant toil or generous deeds ; 

Copious th' unsullied stream of praise shall flow 

Ungrudg'd around the virtues as they rise ; 

JNor haggard Envy scowl with baneful brow $& 

To blast the garlands offer'd by the wise ; 

Slight is the gift to Merit, when they raise, 

Gaze of th' admiring world, a monument of praise. 



V. 53. And fa?r J j.]. Orchomenus received him driven from home by a sedition. 
F. 60. And wisdom.'} This seems to hint that he had not conducted himself in his own 
country with wisdom. An instance this how the poet detested flattery. 



308 



e. 3. 

Sweet after toil to each succeeds 

The various meed of various deeds, 70 

Who lives by tillage, sheep, or fowl, 

Or where the billowy waters roll ; 

Yet all these labours but repell, 

Ghost-like Hunger pale and fell ; 

Contests or arms the hero raise 75 

To reach the nobler boon of praise, 

His name erabalm'd, strangers and friends among, 

With sweetest flowrets of the tongue. 

s. 4. # 

But now the god demands my grateful song. 

To whom the ever-rolling depths belong ; 8C 

That god who makes the fleet-wing'd steed his care, 

Who aids the victor, whom thy neighboring walls, 

Onchestus, and whom thine, O Thebes, revere. 

To you, Amphitryon's sons, the victor calls ; 

The Eleusinian and the Minyan game, 85 

And the Eubaean loud resound his honor'd name. 



■ 



V. 84. To you.'] Hercules and lolaus; in games sacred to these two heroes he was 
victor. Pindar proceeds to enumerate his victories, ending with one gained in games sacred 
to Protesiias, 






/ 



309 

a. 4. m 



Thou too hast seen him in thy sacred ground, 

Protesilas, with glorious garlands crown'd. 

Muse of the lyre, know thy contracted string ! 

If Hermes guide his chariof c£er the plain 90 

To frequent triumph, 'tis not thine to sing 

The various palms his rapid coursers gain. 

A modest silence tempers oft the lays, 

And sweeter the delight and purer flows the praise. 






e. 4. 



Still may he take his glorious flight, 95 

Vaulting on the pennons bright 

Of the sweetly-tuneful Muse, 

And bedropt with Alpheus' dews 

Grasp the olive and entwine 

The Pythian wreath, that Thebes may shine 100 

Rich with his glory ! Who delight 

To feed their hoards close-lock'd in night, 

Scorning the sons of Virtue, such shall go 

Inglorious to the shades below. 



V 



w 






ISTHMIAN (3DE II 

ODRESSED TO THRASYBtJLUS, ^OSE ] 
CRATES, OF A»RIGENTUM, HAD GAINED A CHARIOT-RACE. 



THIS ODE IS ADDRESSED TO THRASYBULUS, WHOSE FATHER, XENO- 



§. 1. 

I* 
N sun-bright car the bard of old 

Sate by the Muses deck'd in gold, 

His glowing fingers warm'd the lyre 

With tender touch of am'rous fire ; 

Melting in nectar flow'd tlie strain & 

Which softly, gently breath'd his pain, 

When Beauty smiled, her roses fully blown, 

And woo'd with winning looks fair Venus from her throne, 

a. ]. 
The Muse knew then no low desire 

Of wealth nor strung for gain her lyre., 10 

Nor ere with nectar-dropping tongue 
The soft melodious lay she sung, 

On the intention of the poet in the beginning of this ode Benedictus has given an ingenious 
note. " Notat tacite Iyricos antiquiores et dum laudare videtur, quod non fuerint mercenarii, 
vituperat quod illicitis amoribus indulserint." 












Her scroll unfolding silver'd round, 

Cried "* nought but silver wakes the sound*" ^ 

The Muses of this ^mercenary age 15 

Confirm the words of old sung by the Spartan sage ; ^ 

e. I. 
^ Nought shines but gold, bright gold alone." 
There spake his heart, for with his riches gone 
Fled was each friend. Thou knowst for thou art wise* 
My Thrasybulus ; Glory's prize, 20 

Won by thy sire, I sing ; the god 
Of Ocean gave th' assenting nod ; 
Gift of his hand, fair Corinth bound 
Triumphal wreaths his glowing temples round. 

%. 2. 
Him, hero of the swift- wing'd carr 25 

She hails, his country's brightest star ? 
At Crisa him the god surveys 
Who warms the nations with ml rays. 
Victory he calls and bids her spread 

Bright glory round his hero's head. SO 

And splendid Athens his fleet steeds beheld, 
Urg'd by no common hand triumphant o'er the field ; 

V, 13. Her scroll."} She did not show her ode with its price marked upon its front or margin, 
thus hinting that she expected silver for her song. There are some peculiar expressions in 
Pindar searee possible to be exhibited in another language. The sage was Aristodemus. 



312 m. 

A. 2. 

■ 

Nicomachus, with loosen'd reign, 

Well knew to shake the groaning plain, 

Jove's priests, the heralds that proclaim 35 n 

The glorious hour when sons of Fame 

Pant for th' event, him grateful own * 

The stranger's friend and grant the crown ; 

Sweet was their cheering shout, when bounding by 

Into the lap he sprang of golden Victory, 40 

e. 2. 

In their own land where smiles the grove, 

Alcides hallow'd to Olympian. Jove ; 

Thy valiant sons, iEnesidemus, there 

The boon of endless glory share. 

Well to thy house the victor's crown, 45 

The song, the bounding dance is known, 

And, Thrasybulus, those sweet lays 

Which largely give th' ambrosial feast of praise 

s. 3. 
Plain is the path ; before our eyes 
No rocks of steep ascent arise, 50 

V. 40. Into the lap,] This was a victory in the foot-race. 
V, 43. Thy valiant.] ^nesidemus was father of Xenocrates. 
V. 49. Flain is the,] It is easy to praise the truly honorable. 



313 

When by our hand the Muse is led 

Where Honor lifts his sacred head. 

Strike loud ; strain ev'ry nerve ; bid fly 

Vaulting the rapid quoit on high : 

Ah, could it reach the victor, and express 55 

The heart, that ever breathes sweetness and gentleness ! 

a, 3. 
Him, zealous for her gen'ral law, 
With ardor, Greece admiring saw, 
To glory train the panting steed : 

To each god did his victims bleed. 60 

Ne'er did his social table fail 
Nor wind nor season stopt the sail : 
In summer's smile he sought the frozen shore ? 
The warmer Nile when storms began their wintry roar, 

e. 3. 
What though, my hero, o'er the soul 6$ 

Cold to our hopes the clouds of envy roll, 
Yet let not trembling Silence veil the praise 
Of thy great sire, nor hush my lays 

V. 59. To glory train.'] A law in favor of keeping horses. 

V. 61. Ne'er did his.] According to the change of circumstances still varying his course, 
i, e. the splendor of his hospitality, but keeping the same design. Nor is the figure to be 
despised in the poet, when the philosophic histon'an represents his hero by continual change 
of climate, living in perpetual spring. See Xenoph. Cyrop. 8. 

S S 



314 

Form'd by the Muse ! She bears along 

And lightly wings the living song. 70 

Thee, herald of ray hymn, I send i 

Haste f Nicasippus, bear it to my friend. 



ISTHMIAN ODE III. 

TO MELISSUS, A THEBAN, VICTOR IN THE CHARIOT-RACE, 



IF with the golden smile of Fortune blest 

Wealth's pow'rful tide and glory buoy thy breast 

While Victory crowns thee, yet thou steer thy mind 

All-smooth to temper'd thoughts confined; 

Well may thy country bless thy name 5 

And hail thee worthy of immortal fame* 

From Jove great virtues take their birth, 

And Piety lives happiest still on earth ; 

The impious flourish but a day 

Perverse and cold to heavVs all-cheering ray. JO 

A. 

To sons of merit due rewards belong : 

The good shall share the melodies of song* 

Begin, and as the lively dance ye lead, 

Twining the wreath, fair Virtue's meed, 

Bear high the ever-glitt'ring prize, 15 

Ye lovely Graces, to admiring eyes. 



316 

Twice did thy heart, Melissus, glow 

With rapture, twice bright chaplets crown thy brow. 

The cliffs beheld where Corinth stands 

And Nemea's woods where great Alcides' hands 20 

E. 

Rent the huge lion's breast, those woods proclaim 

Thebes and her hero's honor'd name ; 

Each neighing steed tosses his wreath -bound head. 

Thy deeds dishonor not the mighty dead» 

Who but has heard, Cleonymus, thy name ? 2& 

The thunders of thy car are echoed still by Fame. 

And wealth from Labdacus flows copious down 

On all his sons, whose steeds bear them to many a crown* 

But lo, in Time's deep-rolling tide 

Now swell the proud waves mounting, now subside, SO 

To steer one smooth, unvarying course is giv'n 

To none but to the favor'd sons of heav'n. 

V, 25. Cleonymus and Labdacus were ancestors of the here 



ISTHMIAN ODE IV 

TO THE SAME MELISSUS. 

8* I e 

XTEAV'N ten thousand gates displays 

Op'ning to Glory's splendid ways ; 

And Corinth calls the Muse to trace 

The various virtues of thy race, 

Melissus. Springing, where they trod 5 

Through life's continued path led by the god, 

Fair Virtue's fiow'rs breath'd to the verge of Death 

Their sweets around them : Fortune's breath 

Now east, now west, this way or that impels, 

And sinks awhile or swells* 10 

a, L 
Thebes of old their mighty name 
Embalm'd to everlasting fame, 
Still uneclips'd their just renown 
With foul reproach ; their friendship shone 

V. 3. And Corinth.'] This victory, gained near Corinth, is the cause of a triumphal hymn, 
^hich celebrates the virtues of the family. 

V, 6. Through all the varieties of fortune their virtues were unchanged. 



318 

On all around. The shades among, 15 

Whate'er of honor Truth's recording tongue 

Ambrosial ever pour'd to bless the dead, 

They taste. Their active valour spread 

Far as the waves, that catch the sun's last flame, 

The glory of their name. *" 

E. 1 

Mortals never virtue gain'd 

Beyond the limits they attain'd. 

'Twas theirs to curb the proud steed's force, 

Like Mars they thunder'd in their course. 

In one dire day, Fate rules the hour, *** 

Wild War's black'ning tempests low'r, 

Fierce eddying sleets descend 

And from their happy hearth four heroes rend 

Blasted in death. Now Winter's frown is o'er, 

Spring's bright'ning months roll round and wake each purple flow'r. SO 

s. 2. 
The Pow'rs of heav'n relent. The god, 
Who shakes the firm-bas'd earth, whose nod 
Onchestus awes, whose sov'reign will 
Bids Corinth's madd'ning waves be still 

V. 28. And from.'] Four of the famiiy lost in war. 



519 

Dash'd 'gainst the rocks where rise her walls, 35 

To celebrate this race of heroes calls 

The Muse, and rouse the sleeping trump of Fame; 

Once more the glory of their name 

Emerges, as from night clear Phosphor's fire 

When paler stars retire. *^ 

a. 2. 
Then, Athens, did thy vales rejoice 
To hear the loud triumphal voice 
Proclaim their cars first on the plain ; 
Glad Sicyon sung an equal strain; 

With heart enraptured ev'ry Bard £5 

Scrolls of immortalizing verse prepared. 
All Greece they dared with fleetest steeds to roll 
The car, all own'd their gen'rous soul. 
Unknown by action where would live their name ? 
'Twere sunk in silent shame. <50 

V. 39. Emerges, as from.} This star shines conspicuous after the night is fled. This part 
of the comparison, implied though not fully expressed in Pindar, Horace has lost and yet 
is very beautiful : 

" As midst inferior fires 
The moon." 
Horace may be thought to dignify his hero more. But Pindar does not say " as the moon to 
the stars." but " as the bright morning star to the other stars." This dignifies more, as we 
know when they totally disappear he continues shining. 

V. 50. 'Tzvere sunk.] Without trial there can be no glory ; no nor without good fortune j 
no nor without the Muse ; for without her help the fame of Ajax had been lost. As she 
inspired Homer to record him so may she aid me to celebrate Melissus, who resembles his 
great countryman, Hercules ! 



320 



e. 2. 



While Warriors pant, doubt clouds the field, 

For Conquest follows Fortune's shield ; 

Fix'd by th' event our glories stand 

And that event still in her hand. 

For oft the bad by wily art 65 

Supplants the man of nobler heart. 

Thus fell the mighty force 

Of Ajax, which still mark'd with gore his course : 

In dark night on his sword sunk his huge frame 

Stagg'ring, and whelm'd the Grecian host with everlasting shame. 60 

s. 3. 

Him Homer's nectar-dropping tongue 

To the list'ning nations sung, 

And, as he breath'd his lays divine, 

Bade golden glory round him shine, 

That bards unborn might catch the fire 65 

And with sweet frenzy warm the echoing lyre ; 

Expanding pour the loud immortal strains: 

O'er the blue deep, o'er corn-clad plains 

All-glorious Virtue darts her golden ray 

Unquench'd in endless day. 70 



$21 



A. 3. 



Thus may each Muse my soul inspire 

To light her torch with equal fire ! 

Bright o'er Melissus to the skies 

Far-gleaming may its splendor rise ! 

Him Glory crown'd ; his bosom warm 75 

With valour, rous'd the thunder of his arm 

Like roaring lions in their rage ; his heart 

Is pregnant with each well-timed art. 

The fox thus foils, low-crouching on the ground. 

The eagle circling round. SO 

e. 3. 

He nor boasts gigantic size 

Nor visage dreadful to the eyes ; 

He seem'd a nothing, till his foes 

Stagg'ring groan beneath his blows. 

The Theban such, who on the shore 85 

Of Libya curb'd the giant-pow'r 

Who on the purpled plain 

A temple roof 'd with skulls of thousands slain ; 

His stature low, his vast soul breath'd a fire 

Which show'd Alcmena's son worthy his heav'nly sire. 90 

V. 75. Him Glory crown'd.] As victor in the Pancratium. 

V. 85. The Theban.] Hercules, who was small compared to Antseus„ See Index. 

T t 



322 

s. 4, 

Honor allows that art supplies 

The want of stature to the wise. 

Lo, thus, triumphant o'er his foes, 

To heav'n the mighty champion rose. 

His ceaseless toils each distant shore 95 

And the vast hollow of the deep explore, 

Taming the monsters of the hoary main. 

Now where great Jove his golden reign 

Holds o'er the gods, heav'n's queen gives to his arms 

Her Hebe's rapt'ring charms. H ] 

a. 4, 
Amid th' immortal Pow'rs above 
Glory, joy, and endless love 
He shares. 'Tis ours, who dwell below ? 
Festal honors to bestow ; 

Before the Elcctran gates the train, 105 

Crowning his altars to his eight sons slain, 
When faded sun-beams leave in dusk the skies, 
Shall bid the fragrant* flame arise. 

Through wreaths of smoke shall flash the trem'lous light 
'Gainst the black arch of night. 110 

V. 96. And the vast.} The deep hollow literally. Plato seems to think the same. 
V. 106. To his eight so/is slain.] By himself in madness. 



23 



e. 4. 

The blushes of the morn again 

Arouse the contests of the plain, 

'Twas there Melissus' temples shone 

All-white with flow'ring myrtle's crown. 

Twofold honors grace his brows, i 15 

Twofold victory he shows. 

One more, his earlier days 

Ennobling, spoke the prudent Orseas' praise. 

'Twas his to hold the helm and wisely steer, 

And as our sweets distil he shall their fragrance share. 120 

V. 118. Orsecs' praise.] He was unctor. 

The design. — In the last ode Pindar celebrated the hero's forefathers: he begins this 
with similar praises ; but four of the family had lost their lives in war. From the gloom of 
this misfortune the glory of the family revives like Lucifer in the hero of the ode. That 
loss, I conceive, was the sleep intended by the poet. In the second ant. he goes on celebrating 
their former glory. The loss, he hints, being the effect of fortune was not inglorious, as was 
the case with Ajax. He now slides into the praise of his hero, who seems to have gained the 
victory partly by skill. Pindar had said that art is sometimes successful, as in the case of 
Ulysses ; but this was an art which he despises, he therefore insinuates that his hero had the 
art of Hercules, in whose celebration he proceeds with the greater propriety, since Hercules, 
as well as Melissus, was a Theban. If this explanation be admitted, the design of the ode 
will appear simple, the connection easy, and each example singularly proper. 



ISTHMIAN ODE V. 

TO PHYLACIDES, OF iEGINA, PANCRATIAST. 

s. I. 

h AMED Theia, bail ! to whom the Sun first ow'd 

His birth ; from thee in his own metal glow'd 

Its golden lustre, which all ages prize ; 

Thy splendid charms attract all eyes ; 

For thee proud-swelling sails sweep the vex'd main 5 

In contest, cars rush o'er the plain 

Swift-eddying ; Honor lights for thee his flame, 

Which rises to heroic name ; 

a. 1. 
For thee the champion treads the listed ground, 
Panting impatient till by Glory crown'd ; 10 

The Theban eagle begins this ode with a flight above the clouds. Heyne conceives there 
was some fabulous theology, in which Thea was called the mother of all splendor whatever. 
He therefore imagines Pindar addresses her as produciug its own proper splendor to every 
thing ; to the sun literally ; to gold, the metal sacred to the sun, literally ; to battles and 
contests metaphorically. Herhaps it was an allegory deduced from the word " thea" sig- 
nifying " sight." If so, the poet may attribute to her operation the splendor of gold, as it is 
by sight its splendor is noticed. From being exhibited to sight the glory of champions arises. 
Thus, as the contests were undertaken for glory, the Muse is most powerful, as she immor- 
talizes the splendor of actions. In this view compare the address with Milton's to light: 

" Hail, holy light," &c. 



325 

By her his hands are nerved, his swift feet glow, 

And many a garland binds his brow ; 

But Worth is crown'd by Fate's resistless pow'r. 

All-fragrant then life's sweetest flow'r 

Breathes a pure joy, when Fame and Vict'ry shed 15 

Their fost'ring dews around its head ; 

e. I. 
Phylacides aspire no more : 

Would 'st thou beyond Jove's throne, presumptuous, soar ? 
Possest of both, thyself but mortal know 

Nor grasp at more than Fate and Heav'n allow. 20 

The Isthmus twice records thy fame ; 
Nemea proclaim'd thy brother's name, 
Hero, with thine. My soul now thirsts to trace ? < 
Great iEacus, the glories of thy race, 

By the light-stepping Graces led 25 

To Lampon's sons I sing as with glad foot I tread 

s. 2. 
iEgina's land, where Justice takes her seat : 
O'er Fame's bright path to many a godlike feat 
Her sons she calls ; unenvied, their just meed. 
Songs of triumph shall succeed. 30 

V. 24. Great JEacus.] Because he was a hero of i^Egina. 
V. 26. To Lamport's so«f.] His hero's father. 



326 

Thus warriors rank'd with champions claim the lyre 

Who panted with heroic fire : 

From chord and flute the swelling music floats ; 

All ages listen to the notes : 

» 

A. 2. 

The lips of Eloquence still pour their praise, 35 

And Jove from heav'n with fav'ring eye surveys 

Thus, iEneus, as th' iEtolians sacrifice, 

To thy brave sons their voices rise ; 

Argos reveres her Perseus ; Thebes, thy plain 

The matchless steerer of the rein, ^ 

Great Iolaus ; Leda's twins of fame 

In Sparta left a deathless name. 

But what, iEgina, is thy boast ? 

The soul of iEacus ; his sons, a host, 

Sons before whom proud Troy bow'd twice her head i 45 

Alcides first, next Agamemnon led 



V. 34. AIL ages.] i.e. At all times, all places record with reverence their respective 
heroes, of which Pindar adds four instances, but ^Egina boasts of heroes more and greater, 
particularly Telamon, Ajax, and Achilles. The first of whom attended Hercules, the others 
Agamemnon, against Troy. Pindar now asks what heroes performed such glorious actions ; 
but as it was well known that Achilles alone performed what any one would conjecture to 
be the feats of several warriors, the poet does not answer. Thus he makes Achilles equal 
to an host, 



327 

To vengeance: Muse,*with ampler bound, 

Exalt thy bard to spurn the ground ; 

Whose spears stretch'd Cycnus, Hector on the field, 

And ^Ethiopia's chief, beneath whose shield 50 

Death couching wing'd his brazen spear ? 

Whose dart struck Telephus, thy banks, Caicus, near ? 

s. 3. 
Thine were the warriors, thine illustrious isle, 
Who cheer'd thy shores with Glory's brightest smile. 

Lo! structures pil'd on ancient structures rise 55 

And lift their virtues to the skies. 
My tongue would touch with melody of song 
Full many a shaft to bear along 

Swift-wing'd their praise. Sav'd from the threat'ning foe, 
Ajax, thy tow'rs her puissance know. CD 

A. 3. 
Clouding the air how did their thick sails swell ! 
Like hail-stones scatter'd by Jove's fury fell 
Sea-swallow'd their proud myriads. Cease the boast s 
Let brooding Silence wrap their host 

With misty pinion ; 'twas the will of Jove ; 65 

Sway'd by his sceptre all things move, 

V. 59. Sav'd from the."} Salamis was saved from a Persian invasion by men of ./Egina,, 



328 

Yet glorious Action loves the lips of praise, 
The nectar of soft-flowing lays. 

e. 3. 
Champion j the honors of thy race 

Outshine all others and eclipse their grace. $0 

Live, ever live their glorious toils ! no fear 
Penurious chill'd their hope or check'd their care. 
With thine, great Victor, be the name 
Of Pytheas giv'n to endless fame, 

Whose dextrous art guides with unerring force 75 

Thy hand, resistless as the whirlwind's course. 
The crown, the wreath of soft wool bring • 
Arise, ye fresh-born hymns, harmonious on the wing ! 



V. 74. Of Pytheas. ,] Unctor, his brother. 

V *«, 77. The crown.] The crown was of parsley, around which some wool was bound. 



ISTHMIAN ODE VI. 

TO THE SAME PHYLACIDES, 

AS when the rosy banquet glows 

And high the sparkling purple flows ; 

Thus sweetly mix the raptur'd nine 

Their second cup with hands divine, 

And, Lampon, as thy son they praise, 5 

They pour the nectar of their lays. 

For him at Nemea first we cropt the wreath 

Of Triumph, thence its sweets ascending breathe 

Around the throne of Jove. Fair Corinth now 

To Neptune bids the measures flow, 10 



V. 4. Their second cup.] Second, because the Isthmus was the second place where he 
gained victories, having been before victorious at Nemea. The poet alludes to their custom 
of mixing the first cup in honor of Jupiter, the second in honor of inferior beings, and the 
third of Jupiter again. Thus he hopes to write an ode sacred to Olympian Jove, for a victory 
which he hopes his hero may gain at Olympia, having been already victorious first in the 
Nemean games sacred to Jupiter, and secondly in the Isthmian games sacred to Neptune, for 
which the present ode is composed, which thus answers to the second cup. Pindar is 
speaking of the places where he had been victorious, not enumerating his victories. 



330 

And all the Nereids' train, 

And, Lampon, first upon her plain 

Thy youthful champion hail. May future lays 

T' Olyrapia's guardian god exalt his country's praise ! 

a. h 

Whoe'er the godlike passion feeds IS 

For glorious toil and gen'rous deeds, 

While all the heav'n-born virtues share ? 

Plants of his soul, his constant care ; 

If Fortune's lovely face divine 

On his full-budded honors shine 3 20 

Smooth glides his bark, he gains the farthest land 

Of bliss, there, crown'd by heav'n's indulgent hand* 

He drops glad anchor near that peaceful shore* 

Thus crown'd be Lampon's temples hoar 

Till Age those honors down 25 

To Death resign ! From thine high throne, 

Clotho, with both thy sister Fates attend 

His ever-ardent pray'r, with glory crown my friend 1 

V. 15. Who^er.'] Alluding to a glorious manner of expending wealth. 

V. SI. Smooth glides.] If the figure imply, '* that the man, after his honors had been 
planted by the Deity, gathers and carries the crop to the isle where he anchors," there is no 
mixed metaphor. It is no small difficulty to express Pindar's multiplicity of images so as to 
avoid such a mixture : and perhaps at last we must confess that his lively imagination did 
sometimes lead him into expressions which the cold and rigid critic may condemn, and which 
his warmest admirers will not be very ready to defend as strictly proper. 

V. 24. Thus crowrCd be Lampon's ] The hero's father. 



33 i 

E. 1. 

But you, ye sons of iEacus, demand, 

Oft as my Muse alighting greets your land, SO 

That, ere again her flight she take, 

Her nectar-dropping wing she shake, 

Shedding sweet perfume of immortal praise. 

Lords of the golden car, broad are the various ways 

Of Glory ; she her arduous course 35 

With unimpeded force, 

Beyond the secret founts of Nile extends 

Far o'er the trackless plains where Nature ends. 

None so barbaric but has heard thy name, 

Peleus to gods allied, child of immortal Fame ; 40 

And Ajax thine, illustrious son 

Of the great warrior Telamon ; 



Troy shook to see that warrior's car 
Thund'ring break the ranks of war. 



V. 29. But you.] Being heroes of ^Egina, the country of Phylacides. 

V. 34. Lords of the.] Descendants of ^Eacus 8 

V. 42. Of the great.] Pindar, as usual, tells us first what in order of time is last ; how 
Telamon attended Hercules to Troy : then he tells us of the expedition against the Meropes ; 
then of the battle with the giant Alcyoneus, at Phlegra : after all he goes back to say how 
Hercules first asked Telamon's assistance. 



332 

When first Alcmena's son his fleet 45 

Leads fierce to vengeance, ardent meet 

The social heroes, with like rage they burn 

To share the toil and Troy's proud tow'rs o'ertuni i 

Tott'ring she groans, to their fierce whirlwind yields 

The faithless city. O'er their fields 50 

The Meropes lie slain. 

Phlegra, Alcides drench'd thy plain 

In gore, the giant sinking shakes the ground, 

A huge hill ; many a dart whirring gave many a wound . 

A* 2. 

When, Telamon, thy aid he sought 55 

Himself the embassy he brought. 

While festal plenty crown'd the board 

Alcides came. The mighty lord, 

Stretching his hand, the guest invites 

To share his table's rich delights, 60 

A bowl presenting with sweet nectar crown'd, 

Emboss'd with forms of burnish'd gold around; 

Clad in a lion's hide the stranger stands, 

Suppliant to heav'n he lifts his hands, 

The terror of his foes, 65 

And thus to Jove prefers his vows ; 

" Great king of heav'n, almighty sire, if e'er 

" Blest with tby fav'ring smile Alcides breathes his pray'r; 



333 



e. 2. 

€X Now to thy son, now, gracious Pow'r, attend, 

** Bid Fate his blessing to the monarch send ; TO 

u A son may Eribaea bear, 

" Dreadful as Mars to wield the spear, 

" My future guest ! May ev'ry weapon glide 

iC With inoffensive point recoiling from his side 

u As from this lion's trophy, bound 75 

" My warlike shoulders round, 

li The Nemean first-fruits of this conqu'ring arm ! 

u And may an equal soul his bosom warm !" 

Thus as he speaks, appears before his eyes 

The tyrant-bird of air, Jove's eagle from the skies. 80 

s. 3. 
Enraptur'd at the gracious sign 
His spirit breathes a fire divine 
Prophetic ; " Lo ! from fav'ring heav'n 
" A son shall to thy wish be giv'n. 

" Hail, mighty Ajax, hail ! whose birth 85 

" Those pinions, hov'ring o'er the earth, 



V. 77. The Nemean.'} He took the hide of the Nemean lion, which he killed. 

V. 85. Hail.} As the resemblance of the name Aias and aietos, the Greek word for 
eagle, cannot be preserved j I have taken the liberty to change the allusion to the nature 
of the eagle, 



334 

" Portend, a warrior matchless in his might 

" With sharp pounce rushing through the toils of fight." 

Alcides spake and ceasing takes his seat. 

My Muse, no more : vain to repeat 90 

The virtues of their race ; 

Fresh-gather'd laurels better grace 

Three living heroes, these demand thy praise ; 

Sound with an Argive's tongue, vigorous tho' short the lays. 

a. 3. 
Thrice Corinth's wreaths their temples bound ; 95 

Victors they trod the Nemean ground. 
How oft the glad, triumphal strain 
Has rent the air, the echoing plain 
Trembled, the Nemean woods around 

Answer'd the still-repeated sound ! 100 

See, o'er their native tribe th' exulting Muse, 
Led by the Graces, pours her sweetest dews. 
Their grand-sire's ashes warm'd within the tomb 
The glories of their name relume. 

Heav'n spreads around the land, 105 

Their happy seat, his guardian hand ; 
And Lampon, friend of active virtue, feeds 
The souls of all his sons with love of glorious deeds; 

V. 93. Three living heroes.] Phylacides, Pytheas, and Euthymenes. 



335 



e. 3. 



tie counsels like the bard he still reveres, 

And all the city feels his gen'rous cares. 110 

Strangers from ev'ry neighb'ring land 

Share the large bounty of his hand. 

Cool Temp'rance smiling cheers his modest breast. 

Her blessings he pursued, her blessings he possest* 

Still from ,his heart unsullied sprung 1 15 

Each accent of his tongue. 

In contest glorious o'er the rest he shone, 

Bright'ning their ardour like the Naxian stone. 

From Dirce's stream the Muses deck'd in gold 

Shall to the hero's lips the sacred bev'rage hold. 120 



V. 109. He counsels.'] Hesiod advised active virtue. 
V. 118. Naxian stone. 1 The whetstone. 

V, 120. Shall to.] Dirce being a Theban fountain, Pindar thus poetically gives a draught 
•fit, i. e, glares his song ; but forgets not to do it by the fair hand of the Muse. 



ISTHMIAN ODE VII. 

TO STREPSIADES, A THEBAN, PANCRATIAST, 



s. 1. 

WlTH which, O happy Thebes, of every boast 

Thy country knows, which ancient honor most 

Loves sweet Remembrance to regale thy mind ? 

The birth of unshorn Bacchus, who reclined 

By Ceres sits, while jocund play 5 

Her cymbals all the festal day ? 

Or Jove, whose show'r fell flickering bright 

And pierc'd with golden flakes the night, 

a. I. 
When, lo ! within Amphitryon's doors the god 

Uprose, who rules Olympus with his nod, 10 

Whence great Alcides sprung ? Or that great sage 
Who search'd the secrets of the unborn age ? 
Or Iolaus skill'd to guide 
The steed ? Or that deep-rushing tide 

Of warriors bursting from the ground ? 15 

Or, when his hosts lay scatter'd round 



337 



e. J. 
In gore, the triumph of that glorious day 
Which scourg'd Adrastus from thy walls away 
Reft of his thousands ! Or near Sparta's lands 

Thy colony^ which fix'd on firm foot stands, 20 

When iEgeus' sons Amyclae took, 
Led by the voice which cheering spoke ? 
But we forget the far-seen face 
Of ancient days and Time's dull sleep entombs their grace, 

s. 2. 
Till dropt with dew from Wisdom's sacred flow'r. 25 

Ye heav'n-born lays in stream harmonious pour 
Dissolving sweets a living champion round, 
While smooth the light choir glides along the ground. 
Strepsiades demands the sOng, 

To whom the Isthmian wreaths belong. 30 

Grace form'd him, matchless vigor arms, 
Congenial worth his bosom warms. 

a. t. 

Touch'd by the golden-tressed Muses rise 
His kindling glories beaming to the skies. 

V. 25. From Wisdom's.] The greatest glories of antiquity would be lost but for the re- 
cording baid. Let him rise then and praise the living, celebrating too his relation, for whose 
fall I grieved, but providence suffers not our sorrow to last for ever. At our hero's success 
it is mine to rejoice $ mine is the calmer joy to sing his praise, nor do I aspire beyond 
that honor* 

X X 



338 

Two kindred heroes deathless make one name : 35 

Fate doom'd the first, but lo, emerging Fame 

The brazen shock of arms defies, 

Uncrush'd her wing ; Fame never dies ; 

For know 'tis the decree of Fate, 

c< Glory shall still the brave await." 40 

e. 2. 

If from his country drives his shielding hand 

War's crimson clouds, whose floods would drench the land, 

The gory sleet back-whirling on the foe, 

His life, his death with glory crowns the brow 

Of all his race. Cold in their grave &* 

The patriot still revered the brave, 

His actions prais'd their noble death ; 

Like theirs his flow'rets fell scatt'ring life's fragrant breath. 

s. 3. 

First in the front of choicest hosts he stood, 

Whose warm hearts panted but to shed their bloody 50 

This their last hope. Sharp sorrow pierc'd my soul, 

But wintry clouds shall not for ever roll. 



V. 35. Two kindred.'] His uncle's name was also Strepsiades, whose glorious fall Pindar 
turns aside to celebrate. 

V. 45. In their grave.'] Meleager, Hector, and Amphiaraus. 

V. 46. The patriot .] The uncle, who imitated the brave ancients. 



339 

At Neptune's word the skies are clear 

And wreaths shall bind our hero's hair. 

'Tis mine to trill the tuneful voice 55 

And with each cheerful day rejoice. 

a. 3. 
Nor you, ye gods, look down with envious brow 
If my calm life in one smooth current flow, 
While years on years, as Fate directs them, fall 

To hoary Age and Death, which swallows all. 60 

Fortune assigns to each his course 
And wafts us with unequal force. 
Man, know thyself, nor lift thine eye 
Feeble to reach the brazen sky. 

e. 3. 
Did not Bellerophon, o'er heav'n's high wall 65 

Urging his winged steed, presumptuous, fall, 
Ere on his golden throne he saw the god 
Who awes heav'n's council with his sov'reign nod ? 
Grasp not, vain man, at sweets which blow 

Beyond thy reach but fall in woe. 70 

Phoebus, on thine own games look down, 
Thou god, whose tresses beam in gold, grant us the Pythian crown ! 

V. 53. At Neptune's.] President of the games as well as god of the sea. 

V. 63. Man, know.'] Pindar consoles himself with the lyre, nor wishes the glory of arms. 

V. 7£, Thou god.2 Perhaps the hero of the ode was to engage soon in a Pythian contest. 



ISTHMIAN ODE VIII. 

TO OLEANDER, OF jEGINA, PANCRATIAST. 

1. 

JjALM of his labours to Cleander bear 

The wreath of Glory ; bid the youths prepare 

Their jovial songs of victory to sound 

Before his father's porch and shake the festal ground, 

On light foot nimble as they rise, 5 

And sing the Isthmian and the Nemean prize. 

Hence, ye black storms that lately broke 

O'er my vex'd soul ! I now invoke 

The golden Muse. We now no more 

The sorrows, which are past, deplore. 10 

Cheerful let the measures flow 

And blooming chaplets bind our brow. 

Cares and toils are chas'd away. 

Hear, my lov'd country, this triumphal lay ! 

That rock, which hung tremendous o'er the land, 15 

Some god, with pitying hand, 

V. 6. And the Nemean ptize.~] He gained a victoiy too at Nemea. 

V. 7, Hence.] This is supposed to be an allusion to the Persian invasion of Greece, 



341 



2. 

Dark mass of ruin, roll'd from trembling Greece, 

And hush'd in calm my anxious horrors cease. 

Enjoy the present : see how steals the day, 

The night, the rolling year with secret lapse away ! 20 

Perils and toils content we bear 

While Freedom smiles our drooping hopes to cheer. 

Boasting from honour'd Thebes my birth, 

Whose sev'n gates thund'ring shake the earth. 

On thee, iEgina's son, I pour 95 

The sweet breath of the Graces' flow'r, 

Thebes and iEgina boast their name 

From two fair nymphs, their sire the same ; 

Within the breast of thund'ring Jove 

Their bloom sweet-breathing wakM the flame of love, 30 

Where proud steeds neigh, o'er silver Dirce's plain 

He bade fair Thebe reign ; 

3. 
But in iEnone's isle thy heav'nly charms 
He clasp'd, iEgina, in his glowing arms, 

Whence to th* eternal sire the mighty birth 35 

Of jEacus, revered beyond the sons of earth, 

V, 28. From two.] This relationship between Thebe and Ogina makes Pindar, a Theban, 
glad to celebrate Cleander, of ^Bgina. The sire of Thebe and iEgtaa was Asopus, 



342 

That birth, the sacred seal of peace, 

Which bade the sons of heav'n from contest cease. 

Godlike heroes from him spring 

Sons of his sons, whose dire arms ring 40 

Mid warring hosts, where heap'd around 

Groaning myriads dye the ground ; 

Their souls were modest, sober, wise ; 

This knew the council of the skies, 

When Thetis' charms inspired with love 45 

The breasts of Neptune and the thunderer J ore. 

Both claim'd the fair, but to no son of heav'n 

Was the sweet sea-nymph giv'n. 

4.« 

For that dread oracle the gods revered, 

Whose awful voice sage Themis thus declar'd ; IH) 

" The Fates have utter'd this their fix'd decree, 

" If ever son shall bless that goddess of the sea, 

" Or from th' imperial Jove's embrace 

" Or any brother's of the heav'nly race, 

" Still mightier than his sire's his hand 55 

" Shall sway the sceptre ; with dread brand 



V. 38. Which bade.] For from him arose Peleus, whose marriage with Thetis upon the 
explanation of the oracle, by the prophetess Themis, was the cause of ending the contentiojs 
between the gods, 



343 

H Other than thunder heavVs vault shake ; 

" Lower the oozy deep shall quake 

" Than e'er at Neptune's dreaded mace. 

" Leave her a mortal's bed to grace, 60 

t( So shall her son in battle die 

" Though fierce as Mars ; swift as the fires, that fly 

" O'er heav'n, his foot. Let Peleus take her hand, 

" Like him th' lolcian land 

5, 

" Feeds none so pious. To the chaste retreat 65 

u Be borne the word, where Chiron holds his seatj 

" Nor let this beauteous daughter of the main 

" Unfold the dismal leaves of hated strife again. 

" When shines full-orb'd the lamp of heav'n 

" Be the sweet virgin to the hero giv'n." TO 

To Saturn's sons she spake. Each god 

Gave with immortal brow the nod : 

Nor vain her counsels : Jove descends, 

And at the solemn rites attends. 

Thence a new theme for Wisdom's tongue : 75 

Touch'd with enliv'ning fire she sung 



V.66. Chiron.'} Peleus 's grandfather, 

V. 15. Thence.} From Peleus sprung Achilles, whom Pindar goes on to celebrate for the 
reason suggested in the note on v. 100* 



344 

Feats, which th' astonish'd world before 

Ne'er heard ; thy feats, Achilles. Stain'd with gore 

Of Telephus, fair Mysia's vine-clad land 

Rued his all-slaught'ring hand ; 80 

6. 
He shields th' Atridae, bridging back their way 
In glory and secures their hard-earn'd prey ; 
His valiant arm restores the queen long-lost, 
His spear withers the nerves of all the Trojan host. 

Awhile his fary they withstood, §5 

Which, rousing battle, drenched their plains with blood, 
Memnon arm'd with mighty force, 
Hector furious in his course, 
And various chieftains weltering lay 

He, guardian of his race, the way 90 

Unbarr'd to Pluto's murky hall 
And crown'd his country with their fall. 
His pyre, his urn each mourning Muse 
With sweet voice hallows and with tears bedews. 

'Twas heav'n's decree to give the brave man's natne 95 

Ev'n from the tomb to Fame : 

7. 
Let Virtue still our constant praises share ; 
Rise then, my Muse, thy glitt'ring wheels prepare, 

V. 81. Bridging back.'] " Bridging his way," Par. Lost, 10, 310 ; literally from Pindar. 






345 

Swift-rolling bear me to the hallow'd ground 

Where great Nicocles rests, there bid the hymn resound ; 100 

Reviving pluck the Isthmian wreath, 

He won, half-wither'd from the grasp of Death. 

Oft did each champion of the land 

Shrink from the whirlwind of his hand 

Which shatt'ring shook them to the earth : 105 

Nor did Cleander stain his birth ; 

Crown him, some youth, with myrtle wreath 

And bid its sweetness round him breathe : 

In earliest bloom his fame Was known * 

The good man's smile approves his well-earn'd crown ; 1 10 

No cave obscure wasted in sloth his days 

Unknown to Glory's rays. 



V. 100. Where great."] Nicocles was the hero's cousin. The Muses were not in vain de- 
scribed mourning over the pyre of Achilles ; since the poet thus secretly draws us to make 
the comparison between Achilles and Nicocles. 

As neither my translation nor notes were designed for professed scholars, if such should 
deign to read thus far and should disapprove the reasons frequently assigned for Pindar's 
various digressions, let it be recollected they are chiefly offered as conjectures. 

To read Pindar is to travel through a hilly country ; every one observes the boldness of 
the scenes* every painter who attempts to copy must exhibit something of their charac- 
teristic grandeur j but if he would give a fair representation, he must endeavour to show the 
beauties of the vallies likewise. The translater, alas ! beholds at a distance and often 
through a mist, insomuch that he must frequently supply by conjecture the objects which 
he but dimly sees. 

In this endeavour to introduce to more general notice a poet less known than most others 
of the ancients, if some liberties have been taken ; this, it is hoped, those who will be the 
first to discover will be the first to pardon. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Acastus. Son of Pelias, king of 
Thessaly. His wife, Astydamia or 
Hippolyte, fell in love with Peleus. 
Being rejected she accused him to her 
husband of an attempt upon her vir- 
tue. Acastus therefore endeavoured to 
destroy him in a forest, as Pindar hintSj 
by armed men in ambush, but Jupiter 
saved him. 

Adrastus. Son of Talaus. He 
was king of Argos. Polynices, a The- 
ban prince, married his daughter Argia. 
Polynices and Eteocles, two brothers, 
had agreed to reign alternately at 
Thebes. At the end of the first year 
Polynices, according to the compact, 
demanded his crown for the next year. 
Eteocles refused. Polynices then per- 
suaded Adrastus to assist him with an 
army against Thebes. Adrastus com- 
plied with his request. Polynices 
joined the expedition, in which he 
and his brother fell by each others 



swords, and the whole army was cut 
off except Adrastus. In a second ex- 
pedition however Adrastus, though he 
lost his son, yet had the satisfaction to 
see the Thebans in turn defeated. The 
English reader may find a fuller ac- 
count of this famous expedition in 
that animated tragedy called the Seven 
Chiefs against Thebes, and in anothe' 
called the Phoenician Virgins, and in 
the epic poem of Statius called the 
Thebaid. See Potter's ^Eschylus and 
Euripides and Lewis's Statius. 

uEacus. Son of Jupiter and yEgina. 
He was king of the island /Egina. He 
married Endeis or Endais, by whom he 
had Telamon and Peleus. In a dread- 
ful drought deputies from all parts of 
Greece applied to /Eacus to offer 
prayers for them ; and his prayers 
were heard by Jupiter, to whom, un- 
der the title of Jupiter Panellenios, a 
temple was dedicated by all the Greeks. 
Pindar supposes that his sons Telamon, 



348 



INDEX, 



Peleus and Phocus, joined ^Eacus in 
his prayers. 

JEetes or j'Eeta, king of Colchis, 
He killed Phryxus, who had fled to 
his court on a golden ram. 

jE-gina. Daughter of Asopus. 
From her the island of CEnopia took 
the name of ^Egina, which was famous 
for many heroes, Telamon, Peleus, 
Achilles, &c. 

Agragas. A river in Sicily, on 
the banks of which stood Agrigentum 
the town, called also Agragas. 

Ajax. • Son of Telamon. After the 
death of Achilles, Ajax and Ulysses 
disputed their claim to the arms of the 
dead hero. They were voted to be the 
prize of the latter, for which decision 
Pindar blames the Greeks, attributing 
it to envy and intrigue. Ajax for grief 
killed himself with his own sword. 

Alcmena. An Argive, wife of 
Amphitryon. His form Jupiter as- 
sumed, whence Hercules had his birth 
at the same time with Iphiclus, who 
was son of Amphitryon. 

Alcmanes orALCM£ON. Son of 
Amphiaraus. 

Alpkeus. A river which passes 
through Elis near the Olympic course. 
This river was said to pass under the 
sea, and rising again in Ortygia there 
to join the Arethusa. 



Amena. A stream near iEtna. 
Amphiaraus. A prophet. Having 
dethroned Adrastus he was prevailed 
on to restore the sceptre on marrying 
Eriphyle, that king's sister. Foresee- 
ing if he should join the expedition 
against Thebes it would be his destruc- 
tion, he concealed himself, but was be- 
trayed by his wife, whose bri>e was a 
splendid necklace. In the attack upon 
Thebes, he, together with his car, was 
swallowed up by the earth. 

Amycl^e. A city of Peloponnesus, 
where Agamemnon was murdered. Sec 
Pyth. II. v. 47. 

Antaeus. A giant of Libya, famous 
for wrestling. He boasted he would 
roof a temple with the skulls of his 
antagonists. He died by the gripe of 
Hercules. 

Arethusa. A fountain in Ortygia, 
See Alphcus. 

Asopus. Several rivers are of that 
name. Asopus was father of ^Egina. 
Atabyrion. A mountain in 
Rhodes, where Jupiter had a temple. 

Augeas, King of Elis. He engaged 
Hercules to cleanse his stables, where 
a very great number of cattle had been 
kept ; but after the hero had per- 
formed his task he refused the re- 
ward. 



INDEX, 



349 



Battus. A Lacedaemonian, who 
built the town of Cyrene with a colony 
from the island of Thera. 

Bellerophon. Son of Glaucus, 
king of Ephyre, afterwards called Co- 
rinth. Having killed his brother he 
took refuge in the court of Prcetus, 
king of Argos. His was the winged 
horse Pegasus, upon which attempting 
to ascend to heaven he fell. 

C. 

Castalia. A fountain at the foot 
of Parnassus, sacred to the Muses, near 
Pytho. It therefore often denotes a 
Pythian victory. 

Cephisus. A river sacred to the 
Graces. 

Chiron. A Centaur, son of Phi- 
lyra and Saturn, who had changed him- 
self into an horse. He was famous for 
wisdom, and instructed Achilles and 
^Esculapius. He was father of Endeis, 
who married ^.acus. 

Cinyras. A king of Cyprus, re- 
markable for his wealth. 

Cirrha. A town at the foot of 
Parnassus, where Apollo was wor- 
shipped ; being near Pytho it often 
denotes a Pythian victory. 

Clotho. One of the Fates. 
Clytemnestra. Agamemnon's 



queen. During his absence at the siege 
of Troy she was corrupted by ^Egys- 
thus, and murdered her husband upon 
his return under pretence of revenging 
her daughter, whom he had sacrificed 
at the command of Diana. Upon this 
the young prince Orestes fled to Stro- 
phius, king of Phocis, till he was old 
enough to revenge his father's murder, 
which he effected by the aid of his 
friend Pylades. 

Corinth. A town in the Isthmus, 
which thence takes its name. This 
town, standing near the place where 
the Isthmian games were celebrated, 
sometimes is used to denote an Isth- 
mian victory. 

Crisa. A town at the foot of Par- 
nassus. Being near Pytho it sometimes 
denotes a Pythian victory. 

Cronion, or Saturnian Hill, near 
Olympia. 

Cteatus. He was engaged in the 
war between Augeas and Hercules, by 
whose hand he fell. 

Cycnus, A son of Neptune, in- 
vulnerable. Achilles threw him on 
the ground and smothered him. 

CyllenEo A mountain of Arcadiaj 
sacred to Mercury. 

Cyrene. Daughter of Peneus. A 
city of Libya. 



350 



INDEX. 



D. 

Danaus. KingofArgos. He en- 
tertained the fifty sons of iEgyptus, to 
whom he gave his fifty daughters, but 
from some apprehensions he entertained 
on account of an oracle, he ordered 
them to murder their husbands the first 
night. Hypermnestra alone spared the 
life of Lynceus. 

Dirce. A Theban fountain. 

Doris. A country of Greece, 
whose inhabitants the Dorians sent 
colonies into different parts, which re- 
tained the name of Dorians. By this 
name Pindar often calls his lyre. There 
were different kinds of harmony, of 
which the Dorian was one. 



Echo. A nymph, who lived near 
Cephisus. 

Endeis or Endais. Daughter of 
Chiron and mother of Peleus and 
Telamon. 

Eurotas. A Spartan river. 

Eurytus. He was killed in the 
wars between Augeas and Hercules. 
He and Cteatus had cut off some of 
Hercules's troops by ambush. 

Euphemus. One of the Argonauts, 
from whom descended Battus and Ar- 
cesilas, the hero of the fourth Pythian 
ode. 



Gorgon. Three daughters of 
Phorcus ; Stheno, Euryale, and Me- 
dusa, were called Gorgons. Their 
heads were covered with serpents, and 
they had but one eye between the three. 
Perseus killed Medusa and cut off her 
head, the sight of which, placed on 
his shield, turned every beholder into 
stone. 

H. 

Hercules. A Theban hero, whom 
on that account Pindar takes every 
possible opportunity of celebrating. 
He set up his columns near the straights 
of Gibraltar, the most western part of 
the world known to the ancients. 
Pindar often alludes to this, when he 
would say that some of his heroes have 
reached the utmost limits of fame or 
happiness. 

Himera. A river and a city of 
Sicily. 

Hippodamia. Daughter of CEno- 
maus, king of Pisa. 

Hippolyte. Wife of Acastus. 
See Acastus. 

Hypermnestra. See Danaus. 

J- 

Jas o n . Son of iEson, a descendant 
of ^Eolus. See Pelias. 



INDEX, 



351 



Ino. A daughter of Cadmus, who, 
after a miserable death, was made a sea- 
goddess. 

Iolaus. Son of IphicluSj an assis- 
tant of Hercules. In his honor a festival 
was kept at Thebes called Iolaia, the 
same as that called Heracleia in honor 
of Hercules ; for the two heroes were 
honored at once with games exhibited 
near the monument of Amphitryon. 

Iolcus. A town of Magnesia, 
where Jason was born. 

Iphimede. Mother of Otus and 
Ephialtes, who were killed by Diana. 

Ismenus. A river of Bceotia. 

Ixio\. A king of Thessaly, son 
of Phlegyas. Jupiter placed him at 
the table of the gods, but he was so 
ungrateful that he endeavoured to se- 
duce Juno. He was bound to a wheel 
which for ever whirled him round for 
a punishment, 

L. 

Lac he sis. One of the Fates. 

Leda. Mother of the twins, Castor 
and Pollux. 

Lerna. An Argive lake. 

Locris A country of Greece. 
The inhabitants Locrians. 

Locri. A town of Magna Grsecia. 
The inhabitants Locrians, or western 
Locrians. 



Lucina. The goddess who pre- 
sided at the birth of children. 

M. 

Magnesia. A country in Thes- 
saly, whose capital was also called 
Magnesia. 

Medea. Daughter of ^Eetes, king 
of Colchis. She was famous for her 
skill in magic. She fell in love with 
Jason, and by her magical charms ena- 
bled him to gain the golden fleece. 

Me gar a. A town of Sicily. 

Mycenae. A town in Pelopon- 
nesus, the capital once of a kingdom ; 
there reigned Agamemnon. 

Mercury or Hermes, the god who, 
among other things, is celebrated as 
presiding at games, and assigning and 
proclaiming the prize. He was par« 
ticularly adored in Arcadia. 

N. 

Nemean Games, so called from the 
Nemean forest where Hercules killed 
an immense lion. They were sacred 
to Jupiter. Hence the Nemean odes 
had their name, being written to cele- 
brate the victors in those games. 

0. 

CEnone. An island called after- 
wards ^Egina, 



352 



INDEX. 



CEnomaus. King of Elis and Pisa, 
and father of Hippodamia. He was in- 
formed by an oracle that his son-in-law 
would be the cause of his death. 

Olympia. A city between mount 
Ossa and Olympus, near Elis and Pisa, 
where was a temple of Jupiter. Here 
were celebrated the games, from the 
place called Olympic, sacred tojupiter, 
once in five years. The odes in cele- 
bration of the conquerors were thence 
called Olympic. 

Opus. A city of Locris. A son of 
Deucalion, or as others say, another 
name for Deucalion himself. 

Orestes. Son of Agamemnon; 
his friendship with Pylades became a 
proverb. See Clytemnestra n 

OrtygiA. An island near Syra- 
cuse, which once formed a part of the 
city : sacred to Diana. Being peopled 
from Syracuse Pindar calls it a bud of 
that city. 

P. 

Pancratium. Whence comes Pan- 
cratiast, one who contended in the 
Pancratium, a game in which the anta- 
gonists were permitted to use all the 
arts of boxing and wrestling to annoy 
each other ; in short, any art which the 
occasion might suggest. 

Parnassus, A mountain in Phocis, 



which had two tops, on "one of which 
stood Delphi or Pytho. It was sacred 
to Apollo and the Muses. 

Peleus. Son of iEaCus and Endeis 
He was accessary to the death of his 
half brother Phocus, for which reason 
he fled to Eurytus, and afterwards to 
Acastus. He gained Thetis, a sea-god- 
dess, after she had assumed various 
forms to escape him. At their nuptials 
all the gods attended and made them 
presents. See Acastus. 

Pelias. Son of Tyro. She after- 
wards married Cretheus, son of ALo\us 9 
king of Iolcus, and became mother of 
^son. Pelias, after the death of Cre- 
theus, seized the kingdom. JEson 
fearing the tyrant, as soon as Jason was 
born, took care to have him removed 
to Chiron's cave, pretending he was 
dead. Jason, when grown up, returned 
and demanded the restoration of his 
kingdom. For the rest see Pyth. Ode 
IV. 

Pelion. A mountain of Thessalv. 

Pellene. A town near Sicyon, 
famous for its wool. Here were games 
in which the victors had a robe of its 
wool for the prize. 

Pelops. Son cf Tantalus, from 
whom the great peninsula of Greece 
took the name of Peloponnesus. See 
Olym. Ode I. and the notes. 



INDEX, 



353 



Pentathlon or Quinquertium, 
the name of five contests in one ; 
leaping, running, throwing the quoit, 
throwing the dart, and wrestling. 

Perseus. Son of Jupiter and Danae. 
Her father, Acrisius, from his fear of 
an oracle, which declared he should 
perish by his son-in-law, had confined 
her in a brazen tower. Jupiter however 
found a way to the daughter. Perseus, 
with his mother, was exposed by 
Acrisius in a boat, which was carried 
to Seriphus, and themselves were at 
first kindly treated by Polyclectes, the 
king of the isle. He became enamour- 
ed of Danae and jealous of her son, 
whom he endeavoured to remove. He 
invited his friends to an entertainment, 
to which they were each to bring some 
splendid present. Perseus promised to 
bring Medusa's head. He went under 
divine protection, & returned with her 
head just in time to rescue Danae from 
the embraces of Poly dectes, whom, with 
his associates, he turned into stone. 

Phalaris. A tyrant who used to 
destroy his subjects, on the least sus. 
picion, in a brazen bull. 

Phi lyra. Mother of Chiron. 
Pindus. A chain of mountains 
sacred to Apollo and the Muses. 

Pisa. A town near Olympia, or 
as some have imagined, the same. 

z 



Polydectes. King of Seriphus. 
See Perseus. 

Phkixus. Son of Athamas. He fear- 
ing his mother-in-law, escaped across 
the straights on a ram. See. y£etes. 

Pyrrhus. Son of Achilles. 

Pytho. An old name for Delphi, 
whence the Pythian games sacred to 
Apollo, and the Pythian odes written 
to celebrate the victors. 

2, 

Quinquennial Rite, once in five 
years. Such were the Olympic games. 

R. 

Rhadamanthus, Remarkable for 
justice, therefore made one of the in- 
fernal judges. 

Rhea. Wife of Saturn. 

S. 

Semel e . Daughter of Cadmus, be- 
loved by Jove„ Requesting him to 
visit her as he approached his own 
queen, she perished amid the thunders. 

Sicyon. The capital of Sicyonia. 

Sipylus. A town in Lydia. 

T. 
Tantalus. Father of Pelops. 
Telamon. Son of ^acus and 
father of Ajax. 



354: 



INDEX, 



Thera. An island. 

Thetis. A sea-goddess. 

Themis. A prophetic goddess. 

Tityus. A giant killed by Diana 
for an attempt upon Latona. 

Typhon or Typhceus. A giant 
said to be thrown under /Etna. 



V. 

Venus. The goddess of all things 
amiable and elegant. 

Uxctoe. The anointer, whose 
office it was to prepare the combatants 
and to instruct them* 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 

NOW READY FOR THE PRESS, 

DIALOGUE THE FIRST, 

OF A 

SERIES of FAMILIAR DIALOGUES 

ON RELIGION. 

The object of which is, to caution the ignorant against entertaining any of 
those doubts, as to the truth of several important articles of our Faith, sug- 
gested in a book lately printed, entitled 4i The New Testament, in an 
improved Version, upon the basis of Archbishop Newcome's new tran- 
slation, with a corrected Text, and Notes critical and explanatory." 

This book is published by a Society for promoting Christian Knowledge 
and the Practice of Virtue, by the distribution of books; but is so ill 
executed, that if its gross absurdity, its omission of whole verses, and its 
false quotations, did not render it contemptible, it might rather tend to pro- 
mote a disbelief of genuine Christianity. 



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Sarum 
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copies 



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558 



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college, Cambridge 

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359 



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After sincerely thanking my subscribers in general y 1 feel a pride and pleasure 
in acknowledging my more particular obligations to the following persons : 

The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Norwich, for putting himself to a 
real inconvenience to serve me ; the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Glou- 
cester, for condescending to give me a few hints of the greatest use ; the learned 
Miss Elliott; the Rev. Mr. Dashwood ; Wm. Smith. Esq. Professor of Modern 
History, Cambridge ; Robert Sparrow, Esq. for his genteel invitation to a free 
use of his library at Worlingham-hall ; Mr. G. Leman, Oxford, for a scarce 
edition of the Olympics ; Dr. Girdlestone, for several acute and ingenious 
remarks on the Olympics ; the Rev. Mr. Clubbe, for various observations and 
judicious emendations ; but above all others, the Rev. H. Girdlestone, of Ipswich, 
whose remarks on every part of the work have been of the greatest use, and 
evinced a delicate taste and a judgment beyond his years. 



PRINTED BY R. M. BACON, NORWICH. 












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